Son of Immortals
by OrionB15
Summary: GoF AU. Harry was raised by the Flamel's and brought up to grow to his fullest potential. That means legendary dueling skills, and an immense amount of knowledge to make him a proud Ravenclaw when his name is entered into the Goblet of Fire and draws him out of hiding. Pairing Harry/Daphne. Neville plays the best friend and a major role in the story. Powerful Harry, but not OP.
1. The Flamels

**Chapter 1**

A young man with green eyes was sitting inside the kitchen of the house he had grown up in with the only mother he had ever known. The news wasn't good, but it would not be the first time this young man would face hardship; however, he was really upset that something like this had happened, and he had no control over what could happen next, "But mum I really don't want to do this."

Pernelle Flamel took a deep breath sighing sadly. Her son was a strong young man, but every man had his breaking point, "I know you don't Harry. Nicholas has not slept trying to figure out how he was going to tell you. I actually had to just take mercy upon him and tell him that I would break the news to you. Sadly, your father didn't take that much better and still has not slept trying to figure out how he may get you out of the magically bonding contract, but the risks are too great. I think we are just going to have to roll with punches and enter you into this tournament."

Harry stared at the table bitterly realizing just how unfair the whole situation was. He had been looking forward to this upcoming year for a while now. He was supposed to start working on his Animagus ability with his Nicholas, whom had not worked on the transformation in over three centuries, and they were both looking forward to the process for quite some time now. He was also supposed to start working spell creation with Pernelle, which was something else the family had been looking forward to as the young man grew into his magic.

"The goblet of fire institutes a magically binding contract. The question remains to be though is the magic that entered your name into the tournament truly yours? Or was it simply someone who put your name in the goblet, and their magic will be tied to the contract. Either way I am afraid it is too great of a risk. Your magic is too much a part of you, and if somehow they managed to tie your magical signature to the tournament, then I do not believe you would not survive the fallout. We have been very careful over the years, but if we slipped anywhere, and we are wrong it would cost you your life. Not worth the risk."

Harry sighed, "Yes I think you're right. I don't like it, but magically binding contracts are tricky. I have read about the goblet of fire before, and I remember reading that one person had backed down from the tournament right before the final task and it killed him. Losing his magic was just too much and his body couldn't function without it. As unhappy as I am about the whole situation I think it is better to just compete. With all these weird dreams I have been having I just can't help but feel something is…stirring."

Pernelle put a gentle hand on the young man she considered her son. These dreams had puzzled and concerned her husband and herself greatly over the past few months but there was nothing they could do as they were seemingly random. She decided to speak softly and encouragingly hoping to take his mind off such dark things, "Let's look at the positive side of things though dear many good things can come from this. You can finally spend some more time with Neville. I know he really enjoys training with you over the summer and allowing him to sit in your coach's chair at the U17 Tournament I think may have made his whole Summer. This can also allow you to decide if you'd like to attend Hogwarts for your last few years of schooling. Nicholas and I have both encouraged you to get a more public education that way when it's over you can always come back and apprentice under either or both of us."

Taking a deep breath Harry saw many possibilities and scenarios unfold in his mind. Over the most recent Summer Harry had trained with Neville a lot and the son of the famous aurors was quite talented and had a very gifted eye at recognizing dueling tactics, and even though he wasn't that good at dueling, yet Harry was positive when he grew into his power he would be an incredible duelist. It was due to this that Harry asked the boy to be his coach in the tournament, and while most people chose their parents or dueling instructors Harry didn't have either of those, and Nicholas had asked not to be brought into it but offered to buy him a coach. Harry refused and decided to pick someone he knew, and Neville was the perfect fit. They trained together all the time, and he had coached him several times when Harry competed on the National circuit, they had even won the National Championship that year together, so why stop the train if its running so well, "I think it might have been what Lily and James would have wanted. I know they put me down for the school at birth, but at the time I think they believed the war would be over for a long time now. However, the Pureblood dogma is just as bad now as it was when they were in school if not worse. It's not something I really wanted to be exposed too."

Another voice entered the room at this, "You couldn't have run from it forever son."

Nicholas Flamel was wearing a doctor's coat, and scrubs underneath it to indicate to the two occupants of the kitchen that he had been in his potion's lab all morning. The man took short strides to the table and took a seat his bones cracking all the way down as his age was truly starting to catch up to the old immortal. Harry may have known that the father he grew up with was over 600 years old, but he had still seen the man do incredible things with his wand, and knew not underestimate him., "I know dad, I just hoped that maybe I would skip Britain all together one day and take my name as a Flamel and live on the continent somewhere. I know I can't run from the prophesy, but I would rather it not be my problem for as long as I can. The older I am the more confident I am that I can hold my own against any dark wizard that may attempt to come after me."

Pernelle smiled at the boy's aspirations. Many boys in his position would have collapsed under the weight of such pressure, but Harry didn't seem too put much stock in the prophesy and was fairly confident that if he avoided Britain and Voldemort then perhaps the mad man would not dare to ever seek him out in fear of the prophesy coming to light. Giving the boy some words of encouragement, she responded, "You will always carry our name Harry. We blood adopted you from the time you were old enough to make such decisions. Sirius has always supported the move, and if he does I think it's safe to say that your parents would have too."

Harry smiled at the name of his Godfather. He had not seen the man since the disaster at the Quidditch World Cup. Shaking his head from the memory that was threatening to pop back up he spoke again, "I know...I just will miss my reclusive abilities. I have been in the shadows of Britain for so long now."

Nicholas chuckled, "Yes just imagine the fallout you are going to cause. International dueling star is actually Harry James Potter the-boy-who-lived. The media will be in a firestorm."

Harry grinned. He had entered the circuit as James Flamel honoring his birth father and being the son of the famous immortal alchemists the Flamel's, but of course no one questioned it as he wore the heir ring of the Flamel family, so it was regarded as fact. Many reporters had tried to get interviews with him and his parents over the years, but his 'parents' had firmly rebuked it at every turn. There were very few people that knew of his true identity and the only one he didn't trust was Albus Dumbledore.

Harry spoke carefully, "I am sure we will have to throw the media a bone eventually. We will come out and tell them our reasons, and I am sure some of the public will support it. I am supposed to be a national hero to these sheep. Dumbledore insisted on another alias, and he didn't specify one way or another, so I say we could always blame it on him."

Harry said that last part with a roll of his eyes and sarcastic tone. James Flamel was a decision that was a little forced upon him, but when the decision came around, he figured he would play the headmasters game, and take the name of the family that raised him. Besides he wanted to make a new name for himself that way no one would judge him as the boy who lived, but as the boy who fought. He was adopted by the Flamel's at age 5, but had been living with them since November of 1981 they were truly the only family he believed in. Sirius Black was his Godfather and he was great and all, but if not for the Flamel's he would be sitting in Azkaban for life for the assault on Peter Pettigrew. Harry did not even want to think about what would've happened to him then.

"You should write to Sirius. I am sure he is dying to speak to you. I know his department was brought into the investigation of how you ended up in the tournament, I made sure of it." Nicholas said in confident manner.

Harry shook his head, "I will write him a letter and inform him I will be at Hogwarts on November 3rd to check in as a student and champion for the weighing of the wands. I will be representing House Potter and Flamel during the tournament, and not any particular school since I am not currently enrolled anywhere. Though I am sure my friends at Ilvermony would happily allow me to represent them I feel that it would cause back lash in the media."

Harry finished that last part with a grin and both his parents laughed. Harry had attended all of the Ilvermony summer dueling camps and had made most of his friends across the pond since he was a small boy. He even had his first kiss over there during the summer recently, and he always thought if he had to go to a magical school somewhere Ilvermony would be his first pick.

"We must tread carefully from here. Whoever did this knows you are alive and well Harry, and they were certainly not your friend. Unless this was the desperate attempt of some fan girl to bring you to their school." Nicholas said thoughtfully.

"Everyone at this point is a suspect. We can't rule out anyone or any motive. We will investigate until we have all the answers to our questions. That is our only course of action for now anything else would be a waste I believe." Harry said looking to his mother to confirm what he had said.

The women nodded in approval to the boy as his detective like mind went into play, "I concede your points Harry. Lay out our plan, and we will offer insight."

Nodding the young man closed his eyes for a moment and then took a deep breath, "Step one is to write the letter to Sirius. Then we shall floo to Hogwarts where I will remain until the Christmas Holidays I guess after the Yule Ball if they do that in this tournament, from there I will return home. In the mean time I will attempt to discover the first task and get in contact with Neville as his knowledge of Hogwarts and the grounds could be invaluable as I prepare. Perhaps a secondary goal would be to try and make some more friends. It would help having friends in Britain if I were to ever decide to take up my family names and get in the political arena. Also, I will be investigating the magical artifact to see if anyone left an interesting magical residue and try to link it back to whoever caused all this. If it a fan girl I will blast them a good one, and let by gones be by gones, but if it is something more...insidious...then we will deal with that bridge if we have to cross it."

Nicholas clapped his hands together, "A splendid plan, just remember to conduct yourself like a Pureblood lord or the masses will tear you apart especially because I see you getting sorted into Ravenclaw or Slytherin."

Harry grinned wickedly, "What you don't think I would make a good badger or lion?"

Pernelle laughed, "Harry you are plenty brave enough to be a lion, but you don't do anything without a plan A,B,C, and D. A Badger would certainly be a possibility, but your loyalty only goes to a select few, and you don't trust people in general. Not good traits for a Hufflepuff. No, your ambition and cunning intellect will land you in Slytherin or Ravenclaw I am certain."

Harry nodded in agreement, but Nicholas laughed, "A Potter in Slytherin that would be hilarious."

This caused the boy to smirk again, "Maybe I will do it just to rock the boat and irritate your old apprentice."

"We would have to call a medic for Brian. Poor meddling old fellow." Pernelle said affectionately with only a tint of annoyance in her voice.

The Flamel's had fallen out a bit with Dumbledore a few times over the years. In November of 1981 he came to take Harry, but Pernelle and Nicholas refused to give him to anyone that wasn't Sirius Black or a Ministry Child Services representative. A fight nearly broke out, but the old wizard respected his mentors enough to leave the matter the way it was for now. No matter how much he insisted that Harry should go to his last remaining relatives the Flamel's' refused to give such a powerful child to muggles. They claimed that since no child had ever been hit by the killing curse the implication and the unknown variables left to many risks for the child to be sent to a muggle home. Then the agreement came that he shouldn't go with Sirius for now as he was to irresponsible for a child at the time, so the two alchemists succumbed to their wish of always wanting a child and decided to raise him as their own for the time being. When he turned five he had stolen the hearts of both Immortal Alchemists and the rest was history, while the public believed he was either staying with his muggle relatives, or possibly even a squib. After all everyone who knew the truth was not willing to talk.

Thinking more of Sirius he was glad that he had befriended the Flamel's when he did, or things may not have gone the way history was written. Sirius had become the head of house Black after the Death of Regulus, his brother, and his father Orion Black. In the will of the Black family Orion Black had instructed the head of the family to retrieve some artifacts that had been loaned to the Flamel's and when Sirius and Nicholas got in contact the two hit off really well. Had the war not been going on Sirius might even have dragged Nicholas around the other marauders as the legendary alchemists was quite the prankster so the friendships could have struck up splendidly. Harry's favorite stories growing up were when Nicholas was pranking Dumbledore in his studies.

Thinking back to Dumbledore as years passed recently they had gotten on slightly better terms with the old headmaster even if they did refuse to let him study their stone for any reason what's so ever. He had even offered Harry some occasional dueling tips after he saw the young man fight on the circuit when he turned 11.

Shaken from his thoughts Harry sought out advise, "As amusing as it would be to give the headmaster a heart attack I feel the house of Ravens is probably a safer place for me to be. Especially considering we don't exactly know what the intent was of getting me in this tournament. Preferably I wouldn't be sorted at all, but all things considered I will have to join someone for classes. I know I could probably sit with older students, but I will mostly just do self-study I think and crush the theoretical and practical's with ease, so I can focus on the tournaments and my dueling training. Thoughts?"

Pernelle thought for a moment then spoke, "Yes that is probably for the best. Slytherin may not be a risk, but it also could be. Why play with fire when we can play it safely?"

Nicholas sighed, "Yes you are both correct. Though I was really looking forward to Dumbledore's face."

This caused some chuckles to go through the room, and Harry said his goodnight as he went to bed to write his letter to Sirius. He would surely already have heard his Godson would be in the tournament but had no way of contacting him other than by letter due to the extensive ward/rune protections on the Flamel property. He sighed and pulled out parchment and a quill and wrote a short but explanatory letter of his upcoming plans, and as he finished up he thought upon just what the tasks could be for this tournament. Dangerous would certainly be a word for it, but he felt he was up for the task. He was a better duelist than most 17-year-old boys and girls, while he also had a spell arsenal much wider then some adults having grown up with the Flamel's. After all his family had prepared him for many attacks from any possible direction, and his experience at the World Cup proved that he was capable even among fully grown wizards, so he wasn't worried that he wouldn't be capable he just hoped it was something less sinister that brought him to this turn of events.

Using the Floo Network into Hogwarts had been a bit of a surreal experience. Harry had never thought he would actually come to the castle unless they hosted some kind of international dueling competition, but today here he was in the halls that his parents, his godfather, and his ancestors had once attended. He took in the Headmaster's office and looked to the windows instantly to try and get a look of the grounds, but he couldn't get a good look as Fawkes the phoenix was by the window and instantly captured his attention. Before Dumbledore could even greet them in fact the phoenix chirped in Harry's direction happy to see the young wizard again.

Fawkes had visited the Flamel's from time to time. After all it was through the Flamel's that Dumbledore had met the phoenix and had bonded with Dumbledore as a young man. Newt Scamander even wrote a book about Phoenixes through Fawkes and he had done much of his research with the Flamel's, so Harry was well acquainted with the creature, and its kind.

Dumbledore smiled at the young man who was communicating with his familiar and spoke, "Fawkes has been excited these pasts few days with all the talk of your name coming through my office. I am slightly surprised he had not come to visit with you sooner."

Harry smiled at the Headmaster and at the Phoenix, "It is always good to see a friend Headmaster, and it is good to see you both. How are you?"

Harry said this as he went to shake the old headmaster's hand, "Quite well my boy even considering these troubled events that have taken place over the past few days."

Nicholas cleared his throats, "Is there any word? Any thoughts or ideas as to who might have done this?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "At last we have not a clue just yet. Alastor and I both have extensively searched the Goblet of Fire for any sort of clue, but nothing has come up just yet."

"Alastor Moody? I was unaware he was here at Hogwarts?" Pernelle asked inquisitively.

"He is currently the defense against the Dark Arts professor for the year." Dumbledore explained patiently knowing that his mentors did not usually care to keep up with staff changes at Hogwarts.

"Good I am sure Harry will learn something useful this year then with the capable hands of Master Auror Moody teaching him." Nicholas said feeling a little better about Harry's experience with the auror being in the castle.

"Yes, I am sure he will be a fine teacher for Harry. Just always be on your toes around him he has been known to jinx people who aren't paying attention. Something about constant vigilance." Dumbledore said with a slight touch of humor behind his voice.

"Continuing on to the point however. Harry I will have you sorted at Dinner which will be quite shortly from now, and from there you may stay with that house for the remainder of the year. I have arranged for it that as long as you are not in Hufflepuff you may take the Head Boy chambers for whichever common room you end up with. That way you may have some privacy in studying for your own purposes and for the tournament." Dumbledore said calmly.

Harry gave the man a slight bow, "I appreciate the effort to make me comfortable headmaster. What do we know of the tournament so far? Is the first task already announced?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "The weighing of the wands is tomorrow, and the first task is November 24th, so you have one day under three weeks to prepare. The task is simply designed to test your daring and ability to perform under pressure. So naturally the Ministry has decided to give the champions no information about the first task other than the start date."

"Perfect." Harry said waspishly.

The man grinned at the boy with a hint of sympathy, "I believe Champion Diggory said the same thing when he heard the news. Cedric Diggory is the Hogwarts Champion by the way. Along with Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons and Viktor Krum for Durmstrang."

Harry raised his eyes, "Fleur Delacour? I know her. She was on the dueling circuit last year. She is a very good duelist. I was glad I didn't have to face her she was rather vicious, and part of the reason that I beat Michael Cotton in the U17 championship so handily, poor bloke was exhausted."

The American was one of Harry's good friends from Ilvermony, but he was simply too tired to fight a fully charged Harry in the finals last year, and some will definitely call it the luck of the bracket, because the two young men had dueled many times and it was back and forth at best.

Dumbledore however nodded to his claim, "Yes a worthy champion of that I have no doubt, though they all are as I am sure you have heard of Mr. Krum and through the Pureblood Grapevine perhaps of Mr. Diggory as well."

Harry shrugged, "I know of them. Watched Krum play in the Quidditch finals, but that doesn't say much about one's magical abilities. Diggory and I have never met, but I have heard he is nice from a friend I have here."

Dumbledore smiled benignly, "Yes I am sure Mr. Longbottom speaks highly of our champion. Frank Longbottom and Amos Diggory have been quite close since the end of the most recent wizard war."

Giving the man a nod of his correct assumption Harry said no more. Pernelle however said, "I just want to say before we leave that we are not happy with this situation Brian. I expect you to continue your investigation and to keep my son safe while he is here. I know we have avoided drawing our wands in our fights over the years, but you mark my words Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore that if any harm befalls my son while he is in your school I will tear this castle down brick by brick to get to you. I hold you personally responsible for his safety starting the moment I return to my home. Do I make myself clear?"

Nicholas and Harry both took a step away from the women who was clearly radiating her anger towards the man in front of her, and Dumbledore had the grace to look thoroughly chastised. Pernelle may have been almost as old as Nicholas, but she was a much calmer soul in life so her body was in much better condition. That didn't mean the woman was as fast as she once was, but she was definitely a woman to be messed with. Her ability to summon wards during her dueling made her practically an impenetrable shield, "Of course Pernelle. Harry will be perfectly safe here outside of his time during the task in which case it will all be up to him."

The women sniffed at the man haughtily and brought her son in for a hug, "Write to me when you get to your quarters tonight and tell me about your encounters, and what house you are sorted into. Good luck son, we will be rooting for you, and we will be in touch as much as possible."

With that the women stepped aside for Nicholas to bring the boy into a gentle hug, "I will send you some notes on our transfiguration project so that we aren't losing time, and maybe we can make some big moves over the Christmas Holidays."

"I'd like that dad thank you." Harry said gratefully thinking about his potential Animagus transformation.

The man looked like he wanted to say more, but simply said, "Make us proud son, and just do your best. We love you, and we will speak to you real soon."

With that the two bade the headmaster a farewell and left the man with a pleasant smile on his face, "Many times over the years I questioned the sanity of allowing you to stay with my old mentors, but it seems that it was actually a very good decision and that you grew up in a very loving home with the ability to grow at your own will."

Harry nodded to the headmaster, "I think it was best tragedy of my life that allowed me to end up in their hands. Now let us begin. We have a game to play, and not a lot of time to play it. After you headmaster."

With that the two departed the headmaster's office, and Dumbledore thought of himself at a young age, as it was always a game.

 **(A/N) I know I know I haven't finished my other two stories, but I am stuck, so I am continuing on in hope of inspiration or ideas to finish the other two. I have been sitting on this story for over a year now, and I am about 21 chapters in so I will update this weekly, and hopefully I will have more for all 3 stories out soon. Please read, review, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the Son of Immortals.**

 **Ps Next Chapter Wednesday for Potter Alliance and Son of Immortals. I will update every Wednesday for the next several weeks!**


	2. Possibilities

**Chapter 2**

Daphne Greengrass had been having anything but a normal year so far. The end of the last school year was normal, and for the most part her Summer was fairly tame except for one particular event that still had her shaken. The Quidditch World Cup was supposed to be a very safe place with all the Ministry Personnel and foreign delegations in attendance, but somehow, she had been caught in the crossfires, and had been roughed up pretty badly in the skirmish. Had it not been for the wizards who had interfered she may have been in some serious trouble, but thankfully two wizards had come to her rescue and deflected the out of control Death Eater wannabees and she was safe.

After that night she was shaken and cautious, but she tried to remain calm and keep some normality in her life. She had gotten on the express like everyone else on September first. Nothing exciting or interesting happened except her usual annual annoyance of having to greet Draco Malfoy and allow him to kiss her hand in greeting. Blaise Zabini hit on her like usual, but she deflected his attempts to her best friend Tracey Davis, and everything was right in the world and things were relatively normal, and nothing out of the ordinary. Then at the start of term feast the Triwizard Tournament was announced. No big deal, Quidditch was canceled and that was too bad considering she enjoyed watching the game, but the tournament was sure to bring some new entertainment. The dueling club was still going to meet even though there would be no tournament, this was definitely the most disappointing as Daphne was sure she would have made her house's top five duelists this year, but it was not meant to be.

The first few months of school had blown by in a hurry, and her classes were keeping her busy, and her friends were keeping her sane. Her best friend of course Tracey Davis had gone a little boy crazy allowing different boys to keep her company, but Daphne was not going to judge the girl and even partook in some friendly flirting with a select few older boys from Ravenclaw that had caught her eye and had been kind to her.

Daphne was a beautiful young lady which allowed her some room to flirt with older and more attractive boys in other houses. Her blonde hair was shoulder length that she braided occasionally and dressed her best on weekends. Many young men had sought her out trying to get a seat at the table, but the girl was cold to most and the ones she invited in were quickly shot down because they had been too forward. Her blue eyes begun piercing young men as she could easily read their intentions as a near expert in passive legillmency. They had even called her the ice queen as people misinterpreted why she would stare at them in the eyes for so long.

The classes were mostly the same as previous years even if the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was crazy. He had already helped her make her reflexes and reactions a little faster, so she was glad she had a man who knew what he was doing in the position. Even if he had tried to jinx her when she wasn't paying attention.

Then the night of the selection had happened, and things got a little crazy. The Hogwarts champion was a Hufflepuff, the ever-so good-looking Cedric Diggory was chosen, and while he was a sixth year, he was very talented, and a hell of a duelist as Daphne had seen first-hand over the past few years he was certainly capable of the position even if she had hoped a Slytherin would be champion.

While it was disappointing that the champion was not a Slytherin that isn't what made it all crazy, it was the fact that three names had not come out of the goblet but four. The entrance of the boy who lived into this tournament was interesting, but Daphne didn't have much care for it. After being hit by the killing curse he had to be a little more than a squib maybe, and that was why he didn't come to Hogwarts in the first place probably.

Her friends in Slytherin had gossiped and speculated about the boy's appearance and magical abilities it was nothing more than just idle talk. She knew none of them had actually seen him, and some still seem to believe the silly books that were written about him. She of course would deny having read them, but the truth was they were some of her favorites.

She had hoped if the boy came to Hogwarts and got sorted into any house, but Gryffindor then she would get her chance to meet the boy behind the legend. Because regardless of his magical prowess if he could just stay alive, he would be a serious political threat one day when he came of age.

Both of his parents were Gryffindors however, so if he had come to Hogwarts there was a high chance he would have followed into their footsteps, and that wouldn't have worked out for Daphne. It was simple math Gryffindors and Slytherins did not go together. Not in school at least. Not ever.

It seemed that just about every girl regardless of background had fantasized about Harry Potter at one point, hell even Daphne as a little girl had, even though she knew he had dodged meeting her and the other witches in their generation she was still curious about the boy. He was after all a living legend. With the Potter and Peverell family magic flowing through his veins the boy could have been a powerhouse. He could still be actually. Perhaps when she met him, he would be just a fraction of what the stories have said about him, and then maybe he could teach her some advanced dueling techniques. Dueling was after all her life.

She had a good foundation and could out duel just about everyone in her year, but she still had lots of work to do if she wanted to become a pro. Fillius Flitwick had even taken a liking to her in second year when she would always ask for the dueling application of a charm, which allowed for him to give her all sorts of friendly tips after class, and even go through some mock duels with the girl to help her progress even further. It didn't help that her parents weren't super supportive of such career endeavors, but it's what she wanted, and even Professor Flitwick said she had a natural talent for it, and if she got a coach or someone powerful to back her, then maybe she could pull off some of her dreams.

She shook her head out of her fantasies, and thoughts as she made her way down to the common room to meet up with her friends. When she made it down the stairs Tracey was making doe eyes at the Slytherin Head Boy who was way out of her league, but he seemed to be fairly receptive to her advances, and Daphne wanted to shake her head at her beautiful best friend's antics, but also wanted to congratulate her if she could pull the Head Boys attentions for an evening as he was quite good looking. Terrence Higgs was also extremely talented, and was the Slytherin pick for the Triwizard tournament, and it was a shame he didn't get it Daphne thought sullenly.

Millicent was probably the opposite of Tracey in every way. Tracey was petite, beautiful, and outgoing, while also being fairly good at practical's and not so good at theory, while Millicent was a blonde that was acne covered, very introverted, but an absolute genius at the theoretical sides of all magics that Daphne was familiar with. She loved both of the girls, and they were really her only friends, but while Millicent was a Pureblood and pretty much untouchable in the common room, Tracey was a half blood, and often a victim of cruel pranks and cruel jokes. This made Daphne quite protective over the girl and had often met boys in the dueling pit on her behalf.

When the three girls made eye contact, they all decided to go down to dinner together. She walked with Tracey and Millicent down to dinner as she thought of Pansy who was probably off gallivanting with Draco doing Merlin knows what. The girl had been down right obsessed with Draco and ever since puberty had hit the girl Draco had finally started paying her some attention, and unfortunately for Pansy it wasn't the good kind. That didn't mean the girl wasn't over the moon about it no matter what, but Daphne hoped her friend wouldn't do something she regretted with a boy that was honestly only slightly better than Ronald Weasley of Gryffindor. Daphne cringed as her thoughts passed over the pig-headed Gryffindor step child and hoped that the year would continue its good fortune and keep him out of her path.

When they made it to the great hall a tall young man was standing in front of the staff table chatting amicably with Professor Babbling and Professor Vector the Runes and Arithmancy professor respectively and they were both laughing over whatever the dark-haired young man said. When she caught a glimpse at his countenance, she knew immediately who it was, but she didn't understand why he was here. James Flamel? The dueling champion? He had just won the U17 Dueling World Championship, what was he doing at Hogwarts? Many others in the hall were whispering and she heard the Flamel name bounce around a lot, but she also heard the name Potter. This led to an unlikely conclusion and she let out an audible gasp that James Flamel, and Harry Potter were obviously the same person, and that he must have created the alias to protect himself on the international circuit. It was also clear to her that other people in the hall were making the same connection.

Daphne took in the boy from a distance noticing that he had put on some weight in muscle and height since she saw his photos in the newspapers. A growth spurt that easily would have allowed him to tower over her petite 5'3 frame, and some muscles that clearly indicated his dueling training was doing favors to his body if she could see them even in his black robes with the multiple house crests on them.

Tracey squeaked softly next to Daphne, "Holy Merlin Daph he is gorgeous. Think I have a shot with him?"

Tracey who clearly did not keep up with dueling instantly believed that it was Harry Potter before her and she didn't comment further than saying, "As long as he is not a Gryffindor, I think you have as fair of a shot as anyone."

Tracey swore in a very unlady like manner, "Both his parents and at least one of his grandparents were Gryffindors, and I think he will probably follow in their footsteps if any of the stories about him are true."

Daphne didn't think her response well very through but said, "You forget his grandmother however was a Slytherin and a Black to boot and he must have been raised by the reclusive family the Flamel's, also his Godfather is Sirius Black and if you keep up with the papers he may have been in a Gryffindor in school, but the last war has changed him, and if he brought up Harry anything like what he is now he could be a snake easily or even a Ravenclaw who knows."

Tracey raised an eyebrow at the girl, "When did you become an expert on the Potter family line?"

The girl blushed for the briefest moments but recovered quickly, "I used to read the books too. Sue me that I did a bit of research."

Tracey laughed lightly, "How you didn't end up in Ravenclaw will never cease to amaze me. I guess just like Granger you had other dominating traits."

Draco Malfoy however must have caught the end of the conversation, "Oh Davis please do not put me off my food like that. Comparing our Slytherin Pureblood Princess to that lowly Mudblood is disgusting. I know your sense of humor is warped, but please some of us are trying to eat."

This caused many at the table to laugh, but Tracey just scowled at the boy not saying anything in return to him but muttering under her breath about doing whatever she wanted.

As the hall continued to fill up Harry remained talking to the two female teachers and clearly winning their favor by the amount of laughter coming from the table. At some point Neville Longbottom had approached the staff table to greet the young champion, and Harry brought him in for a big embrace laughing as the boy had clearly said something funny in greeting to the dueling champion.

Daphne had heard that Neville was sitting in James Flamel's coaches' box at the U17 Dueling Championship over the Summer, and she would love to know just how that connection ended up working out. After all Neville wasn't the most powerful or popular student. He definitely had friends, but they were all mostly in Gryffindor and he seemed to be a bit of a leader in the house, but whatever the Lions saw she did not see it, because every class she had the boy in was less than spectacular in over all performances.

When most of the hall had filled up Dumbledore finally stood, "Good evening students and guests. We have another special guest who has come a long way to join us here tonight and for the remainder of the school year. Please give a hand for Harry James Potter as we welcome him back to Britain."

Harry held up a hand of acknowledgment as people politely clapped, and Dumbledore smiled cleverly, "While some of you may recognize him as James Flamel from the International Dueling Championship, I am sure you can approach Mr. Potter with any questions you may have, and I am sure he would be happy to clarify any confusion. Now however Mr. Potter has decided to room here on the Hogwarts grounds for the remainder of the year and tournament, so I have brought out the sorting hat to allow him to be placed into a home for the remainder of the year."

With that the headmaster motioned to a chair while the Deputy Headmistress walked around the table to take a hold of the hat and place it on Harry's head when he sat on the stool with his eyes closed. Daphne wondered just why he had closed his eyes and wondered what he thought the process would pertain.

Minutes passed, and the crowd became restless. Harry never once opened his eyes, and the hat remained completely inanimate during the sorting. A few more minutes passed before Harry opened his eyes with a slight smile and the hat roared out, "RAVENCLAW!"

This led to a storm of applause from the house of Eagles and many people stood up to greet him as he approached the table with the headmaster's dismissal. This gave the girl a bit of hope that she might be able to befriend the boy and convince him to give her some good dueling tips, and maybe even give Tracey another snogging partner if he or she so desired.

As if reading her thoughts Tracey whispered in her ear excitedly, "I have a chance!"

Dumbledore finished his announcements after the applause and greetings died down and Harry had taken a seat at Ravenclaw's table, "Now that all the champions are here the weighing of the wands will take place tomorrow, and the first task will be November 24th. Now let us enjoy our dinner and continue on with our pleasant evening. Cheers!"

Some people rose their glasses to the headmaster at his call, but others just went back to what they were doing. Daphne haphazardly kept an eye on Harry over at the Ravenclaw table as he was assaulted with barrages of greetings, and gestures if friendship. She even rolled her eyes as Lisa Turpin and Su Li blushed their way through an introduction as Harry gave them the standard Pureblood greeting of a simple kiss on the hand.

Daphne planned to approach the boy tomorrow or day after in hope of setting a time for them to meet, and possibly have lunch where they could discuss some training possibilities that would be beneficial to possibly both of them. After all the situation was far better than she could have imagined. Harry Potter wasn't just the boy who lived with decent magical power, he was also James Flamel the international dueling champion whose power was already becoming legendary.

 _Harry's POV_

Harry had finally been allowed to start eating as the assault of questions and greetings ended and the food was fantastic. He usually dieted pretty hard during his dueling training in order to stay at the peak of physical condition, but right now he wasn't training for anything major so feasted on anything and everything he pleased. He had already met some friendly faces in the names of Anthony Goldstein, Lisa Turpin, and a pretty Asian girl named Su Li. He was feeling pretty confident in his choice of house so far and decided that his plan was solid.

When Harry had sat down for the sorting, he rose his Occlumency shields to a point that the hat could only read his surface thoughts which were that of intelligence, wit, and scholar level studying. This frustrated the hat as it could tell that he was not able to read all of the boy's thoughts and complained that this was the reason they sorted people at 11 instead of 14. In the end after several attempts to break through the hat conceded and put the young man in Ravenclaw where he wanted.

Harry had observed many of the students and had even planned on greeting each of the champions which was his current task as he finished up his meal standing and walking towards the end of the table. He gave a slight bow to the female in front of him, "Champion Delacour we meet again."

The girl gave him a pretty smile, "Enchante Monsieur Flamel, or do you prefer Potter?"

"I belong to both houses, but I definitely prefer Harry."

The girl smiled slightly at him, "Harry then. I hope we have the pleasure of dueling each other sometime this year even if it is a little exhibition match. Your friend Monsieur Cotton was a very talented duelist, and his stamina was the only reason he defeated me. I wonder if you have such stores that would allow you to last so long against someone like me."

The innuendo was there and Harry knew it, "While I am sure many others would fall short in terms of stamina I assure you I will not disappoint..." Leaving a slight wink at the end he continued, "After all I was still fully charged after dueling through nearly a dozen opponents and still had plenty of energy to wipe the floor with my competition. Though I agree I would love to have a bit of one on one dueling training with you. I am sure we could make it beneficial for us both."

This caused the girl to grin and her friends to blush a bit at the direction of the conversation, but Harry knew the girl was trying to fluster him and was impressed that he had not fallen for her trick and even seen right through it, "I look forward to your companionship and your competition then in the coming tournament."

"I wish the same for you as well." The young man said giving a slight bow, and then exited the hall with clearly no intention of greeting the other champions.

Daphne who was watching nearby briefly was jealous after catching part of the conversation. Delacour was going to get to duel the champ, and he was clearly looking forward to it. She needed to figure out how to get to him, possibly through her family, or other means. It was clear he had eyes for the blonde French girl, and Daphne was not above showing a bit of skin to get what she wanted...Those ideas were put on hold however as her housemates rose from the table clearly finished with their own meals, and ready to return to the common rooms for a night of rest and studying

 **(A/N) I updated this chapter grammatically today(02/06/2019), but nothing changed in the story line. Please read, review, and enjoy!**


	3. The Champion and the Snake

**Chapter 3**

The weighing of the wand's ceremony was the day after Harry's arrival. It was a fairly boring process up until Harry's presentation of his wands as in multiple. Everyone in the Wizarding World knew that James Flamel was one of the few wizards alive that could cast with multiple wands, but few knew of just how unique his wands were. One was a Wampus Heart String from the legendary house at Ilvermony, where he had actually encountered the dying creature in his youth with his surrogate father, and they had taken mercy upon the wounded animal, and harvested it for everything they could. Nicholas had told Harry that the passing of such a powerful magical creature was a significant historical event and had made sure Harry had gotten some of the parts so when he was old enough, they crafted a wand from the power of the heart and gave the boy a powerful wand made from Elder Wood and the Wampus. His other wand was just as peculiar but not as rare. Thestral Heart String, and Redwood, it was great for dueling purposes and loved different variety of magics, and casting runes which was great for Harry as he also loved doing both of those things. Overall the wands had blown away the British Wand Maker and was over the top jealous of his primary wand made from the Wampus.

The other champions wands hadn't been nearly as interesting and went by fairly fast. However, the pictures seem to go on forever, and the only bright side to it all was that Sirius had shown up in his auror attire, and pretty much claimed to be Harry's official coach and representative of the tournament for the remainder of the tournament. Harry had wondered about his Godfather's silence on the matter and was glad to see he had come through for him as always in what felt like the final moments.

Harry was walking the grounds with Neville as the young man was giving him the tour of the grounds, "So what is your dueling training schedule looking like? I would love to get out here and observe your current tactics and see how they evolve and even get in the ring with you, so I can help you out with what you may or may not telegraph...that is if you still might consider keep using me as your coach?"

Harry grinned at the nervous young man, "Are you kidding we are undefeated together! You aren't allowed to quit on me just yet. I obviously wasn't going to ask so much of you, but if you are willing and you think it will help my training and me over all I am down for whatever you might suggest or want to do. You're the coach I am the player until you get that magic of yours under control."

Neville grimaced a bit. His power was substantial, but Frank Longbottom had explained to Harry last summer that some people's magical cores overgrow their body for a while and it all becomes very volatile, and sometimes just straight up non-responsive. As Neville gets older it will settle down, and likely allow him to be quite the powerful wizard, but until then he was having to focus on the theoretical side of things and find out what worked for him and what didn't.

Shaking off his negative emotions Neville however said, "Awesome because I really enjoyed watching you duel and helping you out where I could. I felt important sitting in that chair, and even though I wasn't in the ring I like to think I offered good advice and kept you calm."

Harry nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah no doubt. In the Semi-Finals I was about to lose my cool, especially after I saw Michael make it to the finals, but you kept me calm, and you read that girl from Argentina like a book had you not seen her small little cheater step when she cast a blasting curse I may never have beat her as fast as I did, and maybe the match against Michael would have gone the other way. Don't doubt your worth Neville you were invaluable to me in the tournament. Sometimes you get so caught up in what you are going to do, and the spells that are coming at you, you just don't have time to think about what their weaknesses are. You understand right?"

Neville waved it off, "Of course I am just glad I am useful."

"You are the coach until you quit, or I quit. Unless someone legendary offers me some help, as good as you are if Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor Flitwick offered to coach me, you'd be out of the job."

This caused both boys to laugh, and Neville to kindheartedly understand that if someone amazing offered their services Harry would have to take it.

The tour of the grounds was going splendidly as Neville shared some pleasant memories he had at the school over the years, and even some stories of other students that he had heard. When they reached the grounds, Harry eyed the forbidden forest curiously thinking of the first task, "What kind of magical creatures do they keep in there?"

Before Neville could answer another more feminine voice entered the scene, "All kinds. An acromantula nest for sure, Centaurs, Werewolves, maybe a stray crazed Vampire from the stories I have heard, Unicorns, and a few wild Hippogriffs. I never took someone of your talents for much of a magizoologist Heir Potter."

Harry turned to see a beautiful young blonde girl behind them, and he smiled at the girl giving her a short bow, "My lady. You have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. Please allow me to formally introduce myself I am Harry Potter Flamel heir to the house of Potter, Flamel, and Peverell, at your service."

He took a few steps towards the girl and he offered his hand, so they could shake and do the customary Pureblood greeting which Harry did by kissing her hand as she took it refusing to blush and show weakness, "It is a pleasure Heir Potter. My name is Daphne Greengrass Heiress to house Greengrass."

"Hello heiress Greengrass." Neville said politely.

Daphne returned the polite greeting in the same formal way while Harry said, "Now that we have all the formalities out of the way please just call me Harry, and thank you for the information on the forest, are you big into magical creatures?"

Grinning at her success so far, she gave the young man a pretty smile, "Since you have granted me excuses from the formalities please do the same for me, and sure I have always found magical creatures interesting, but my it's not what I would say I am passionate about, or even have a lot of care for."

Harry rose his eyebrows at the girl, "And what are you passionate about Daphne?"

"Dueling." The girl said looking right into his eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw something familiar but shook it off.

This time Harry just grinned wickedly, "So that is why you decided to approach me and my friend here. I hope I am not being presumptive to assume you are a fan? I don't mean to sound cocky but-"

"You are Britain's first International Champion in three decades." Neville finished helpfully for him, and Harry shrugged in agreement.

Daphne however took their words in and said, "I can't say I have honestly ever seen you actually duel. I have of course heard the stories and can appreciate your power and skill with a wand considering your victory on the International level, but I can't honestly say I am a fan."

"I understand. Most people don't really keep up with the underage dueling circuit, but forgive me you said that was your passion, but I have never seen you on any of the circuits?"

Daphne froze for only a second before recovering, "My parents are very traditional, and they don't think is a very good occupation for someone of my standing."

Harry rolled his eyes in understanding, "The Pureblood Dogma never ends. Dueling is a very noble profession and has been around since the dawn of our ancestors."

"I have tried that tactic before, but they won't buy it, and of course in this day and age with the quality of magical education across the world it is hard to be a champion without proper training." The girl explained.

Harry frowned at this, but nodded, "Its true I have been in dueling camps since I was 9, however I never had a coach. I just studied magic, which is why I let Neville here by my coach. However, what is your proposal? You are a Slytherin, and you strike me as a rather cunning young woman so what is it you want Daphne?"

Nodding her head, she understood that the boy was not interested in games, and unless she wanted tempt him with her looks, she better speak her mind, "I need a teacher, or a coach of sorts, or at least someone to speak on behalf of dueling as a profession. I think if my mom thought I was doing it to spend more time with an heir to a reputable house I think my dad would be more willing to put some money behind my training and competing. I know my mum would really appreciate that, and I could certainly introduce you to some of the calmer Slytherin Pureblood's and perhaps help you build some small alliances in the other houses in return, while also offering you the mind of one of Slytherin's finer products."

Harry thought for a moment and shrugged, "I think you underestimate my love for the game but overestimate my teaching abilities. I am definitely not mastery level where I could bring on a apprentice, or anything legit like that. I am not sure I have what you are wanting."

The girl shook her head immediately, "I am not looking to be your apprentice, but perhaps your protegee. You are a dueling champion, and sometimes the mark of the greatest of champions is their ability to breed other champions. I am a willing student and would be glad just to be your training partner and learn from you where I can. By telling my parents who I am training with I think I can convince them to help me fight my way to the circuit."

In understanding Harry gave the briefest nods of his head in agreement, "Okay Daphne, but before we do this, I need a quick oath."

The girl froze at this, but Harry continued, "I want you to swear that you have no knowledge or no business in how my name came of the Goblet of Fire. Someone put a lot on the line to get me here and standing in my shoes it seems like you would have a lot to gain by me coming here, and nothing to lose. So, it's more for my own sake of mind, and my ability to deny all this at a later date at how I trusted you so easily."

Impressed the blue eyed Slytherin considered his words. The boy was clearly more cunning the she thought, and briefly wondered why he had not ended up in Slytherin. However, she quickly took the oath for him, and then saw him staring at her in silence for a moment where even Neville must have been wondering what he was thinking.

Daphne was surprised by his blatant staring and fought back a blush as she looked into eyes to see what he was thinking, but instead all she found was massive brick walls, and nothing that could give her even the smallest surface thought. Harry stared at the girl in wonder, "At 14 that is incredible. If you wanted to know what I was thinking however you could have just asked. Forgive me for staring. I have never met a natural Legillmens as young as you are."

Neville's eyes shot in his eyebrows, "A Natural Legillmens?"

Daphne wasn't sure how Harry knew, but she didn't want her secret to get out, "Yes, and I would appreciate it if that didn't get around Longbottom. I am not completely natural I can only do it with eye contact, and if there are no Occlumency shields, and I don't give any sense of intrusion, so that does leave me to wonder..."

Harry pulled out a necklace from under his shirt, "Some lessons are only needed to be taught once, and perhaps now that I know of your gifts, I will seek to protect your mind as well if I am to take you under my wing so to speak. The story is an ugly one, and I fear this is not the day to share, but perhaps another time. I would love to discuss with you your gift sometime, and how you can use it to your advantage in a duel. I myself am astounded by the uses of mind Magicks and would love to get a firsthand insight on how some of the more natural gifts work."

Freezing for a moment thinking about the lesson she had learned over the Summer she almost missed a chance to say something however Daphne saw the opportunity and took it, "That would be fine, if you would be willing to duel with me from time to time to offer some critiques and maybe a few ideas on strategies. After all, if I am going to be a study of yours then I wouldn't want to represent you poorly."

The girl was certainly cunning, and Harry respected the hell out of her charisma, "I would love to have some friendly duels with you. I warn you though that Neville actually may be better to offer you tactics, strategies, and other coaching like areas of expertise, he is after all my coach."

Neville blushed at the praise and seeing a chance to learn more of the boy's friendship Daphne asked, "Yes I read about that. I wish I had been there at the U17 Championship, but mother and father were busy, and unable to attend. How did that arrangement even work out, I didn't know you too even knew each other?"

Taking a chance to speak Neville said, "It's all quite simple really. My parents and Harry's were really good friends growing up, and the Flamel's thought it would be nice for Harry to have a friend his age in his home country, so anytime they were in town they would drop Harry off at Longbottom Manor for a few days, and we would spend time together. We are basically cousins in a weird Pureblood way anyway, and the alliance between our families needed to be continued."

"Where a Potter goes a Longbottom will follow and vice versa goes the family mantra I believe." Harry said which Neville nodded too.

Daphne nodded understanding the politics and reasoning behind it all. In fact, it seemed quite obvious now how Neville had ended up connected to Harry, and she only wished she had seen it sooner, "That still doesn't explain how Neville of all people ended up your coach. No thanks Longbottom but you never struck me as an astounding duelist, let alone good enough to coach a champion."

Neville blushed, but Harry defended him, "Neville has been watching me duel since I was about 9 so he knows my tactics, strategies and spell arsenals almost as well as I do. He also has an amazing eye for other people's tactics and predicting their changes, and attempts. He also keeps me calm which is super important in high stress level environments similar to one I faced in the Semi-Finals this year, funny we just had this conversation earlier today."

Daphne bowed her head slightly, "Of course I meant no insult Longbottom I was merely curious."

Shrugging his shoulders, the boy responded, "No harm done."

"Also, not to be persistent, but I know you must be busy training for the tournament, and all, but when do you think you would have time to work with me Harry?" Daphne asked hoping she wasn't sounding desperate as she thought she had done a good job of representing Slytherin today.

Harry looked around then up at the sky, "Plenty of day light left, want to do a quick practice duel? Neville could ref it, and I can gauge your skills."

Neville nodded at the request and they both looked at Daphne who appeared to be trying to maintain her excitement, "Of course that would be great."

Harry grinned drawing one of his wands, "Then let us begin. Neville."

Neville knew the drill as he had drawn the lines many times before for Harry. He took his wand and drew to white line in the ground and marked some small spots for out bounds territory. It only took a moment to set up the small area, and they were already getting some curious glances from students who were passing by, and getting curious as to what the Lion, Eagle, and Snake were up too.

Neville then announced, "Duelists to your positions."

Harry went and stood on one of the white drawn lines, while Daphne stood at the other. Harry gave a slight bow to the girl, while Daphne gave a bit lower one respecting his superiority in the ring. Neville announced, "Level 1 dueling rules. Nothing lethal. No Dark Arts. The fight is to surrender, disarm, or knock out. No maiming, no killing, and try to not draw to much blood or someone may stop it. Duelists ready."

Harry's face was no longer smiling, and Daphne quickly had to shake off her facade of friendliness because the boy in front of her clearly wasn't treating this as a joke and was playing for keeps. As the countdown began the young women began to sweat, maybe this wasn't such a good idea, the thought ran through her mind, and later Harry would tell her it was her first mistake. She was also glad that she was wearing her normal school robes, had she gone with her original plan to show a bit of skin that could have been quite the embarrassing duel. However, as the numbers were counting down, she did her best to clear her mind and focus.

When the countdown finished a lightning fast spell flew towards her, but it was only one, so she blocked it and returned fire as quick as she could, but every spell that she cast was dodged, and Harry had not even moved his wand to block them, and even returned a few spells with speed she had never before encountered. She was on her toes in seconds. Daphne cast as many spells as she could and tried to keep him guessing and play defense when he decided to attack, and it didn't take long for the young Slytherin to realize that the boy was analyzing her fight pattern, and not actually fighting at all, but checking for chinks in her defenses, searching for any possible weaknesses.

A minute passed, and Daphne was dying. She was so tired she could barely keep casting much less shielding. After a deep breath from Harry the young man across from her sighed and with a speed she had yet to see in the duel disarmed her and bound her by ropes. Neville quickly called it, "Winner Harry Potter."

Harry quickly disbanded the ropes and handed the girl back her wand, "What did you think?"

She stared at him in amazement, "You were fast. Inhumanly fast almost."

Laughing for a moment he gave a slight wave to the people who had gathered and clapped for his victory, "I didn't mean about my performance I meant about yours. Though I will say you let me get in your head without me saying even a word. Don't ever show or feel discouraged when dueling just trust your magic and let things flow from you. I saw the slightest hint of hesitation and uncertainty cross your face at the beginning, and that was all I needed to know to understand that you weren't completely in it."

The girl blushed, she should have realized that, "Oh of course. It's hard though, and I have never dueled a champion level duelist, and I have done some play duels with adults before, but nothing where it got serious or heated. For myself though I mean my spell variety was good, and it was good to see you squirm, but you were more dancing then fighting."

"Forgive me Daphne. I had doubts you could beat me, and from the first few spells my certainty of victory increased. I wanted to give myself a good training session even if it was just for a minute. You may or may not realize that you struck me two times during our duel, but I did not shield even once. It was a dodging training for me while I observed your fight pattern." Harry said quietly not wanting to be over heard as he offered the girl some insight.

Daphne didn't let her pride get in the way at his comment about certain victory, as she too had no false hope of beating the boy, "It was certainly a great test. I don't think anyone at Hogwarts our age or even fifth year can duel or dodge like you do."

Neville joined the two shortly after, "I watched Harry duel all Summer and I have watched the dueling club go at it since I came to Hogwarts, and I can tell you no one at this school of any age duels like Harry."

Harry blushed a bit at the compliment and patted Neville on the shoulder, while Daphne asked, "So what did you think of me?"

Grinning at the girl he said, "Well your hair is quite nice today, and your makeup seems to be perfect. You look like you were out to impress someone today Ms. Greengrass and I will say it definitely worked."

The girl blushed deeply at this, but also laughed at the compliment, "Thank you, but I meant my dueling."

Harry sighed in fake dramatics, "Girls never after my looks, but my skill with a wand... figures. I am kidding. I'll be honest with you because I think that it is what will make you better. You are slow. You cast at a speed that couldn't last on even on the U15 circuit. You also don't have very good stamina. I was prepared to dodge for up to five minutes and you only lasted about two. My best tips to you are this. Pick up some targets and cast at them as fast as you can over and over and over again. That will help you with speed, accuracy, and stamina. Your power is enough. It will obviously grow as you do, but you have the power to be a great duelist, now you just have to put in the work. I can tell most of your skill is natural, with maybe a little bit of practice?"

Daphne nodded flushed and feeling slightly disappointed at his analysis, "I don't mean to say these things to get you down, quite the opposite actually. You have lots of potential, because something you excel in is that you don't telegraph at all hardly."

Neville nodded, "Harry is right about that. At several points I thought you would chain spell, but instead you went a completely different direction. You are slightly unorthodox and if I had to guess it's because you are pretty self-taught without any really good people behind you to guide your wand, but while for most that's a disadvantage for you it is the opposite and could give you a serious upper hand, and I would guess this would allow you beat most of your more reasonable fourth and fifth year students."

Agreeing with Neville he added, "He is absolutely right, and your spell variation was fantastic as well. So, my advice to you is in speed, accuracy, and stamina isn't to make you good it's to make you great. I want to skip good, and if you want to make it on the circuit then I suggest competing as much as you can. Interhouse competition is good, but after you have dueled someone three times it basically takes away the surprise and flare that will make you that much better. Duel with as many people as you can and train with the best people you can find. They will make you better, and in turn hopefully you can make them just a bit better."

Daphne nodded absorbing all the information like a sponge, "Thank you so much Harry. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this for me. I will do as you suggested and start working on it immediately."

Harry grinned at the girl, "If you want to win, and you want to be a champ you will be, you just have to stay focused and create a path and don't leave it. I also recommend a bit of non-magical conditioning worked wonders for me when I knew I was going to have duel several times in a day. Not weight lifting or anything but running and building endurance that way. Champions are not built naturally, at least not the ones who plan to stay at the top."

Daphne stared at the boy in awe, "You run and train a lot then?"

Laughing the boy said, "Everyday no days off. Holidays, my birthday, cold, hot, sun, rain, snow doesn't matter I will train in any conditions."

Admiring the boy for his dedication to the sport she said, "That's amazing. I now understand how you became so good."

"Don't get me wrong a lot of it is still natural talents, like power, and athletic coordination that can't just be built, but I think you have all those things or have the potential to have all those things so keep working at it, and I of course will be here if you wish to duel again or want some other tips." Harry offered kindly.

"Thanks again Harry. I will let you and Longbottom get back to it, but I hope we can talk again soon, and maybe teach each other a few new spells even."

"I would like that Daphne. I will see you around."

With one last smile the girl departed happily, and with a lot on her mind as to how she would improve herself.

Harry however turned to Neville to continue talking to him, "You took a little bit of a blind risk with the girl today."

Shaking his head Harry patted the boy on the shoulder, "And that my friend is why you were in Gryffindor. Let me explain. I think I actually took the opposite of a chance, because today I ruled out at least one suspect of who put my name in the cup. By getting her oath I know she had nothing to do with my name coming out, and more than likely by extension most of her close friends too. Also, I didn't make any promises I just told her I would help her when I could, and that I wouldn't mind helping her out. She is pretty, and I don't think it would exactly be a crime to spend more time with the girl. In fact, I think what I did today would have made Salazar Slytherin beam with pride."

Neville considered his words for a few minutes, and then chuckled. The two friends then began to make their way back to the castle when a young red headed boy approached the two, "That was wicked Harry you sure showed that snake."

Neville quickly sensing potential danger spoke, "Harry this is Ron Weasley he is in my house, and one of my peers."

Neville was a little fast to claim the boy as anything, but a friend and Harry noted this as he offered a hand to the boy, "Pleased to meet you Ron I am Harry."

"I know who you are mate. Everyone does you are famous!" Ron said which forced Neville to cringe. Commenting on Harry's fame was never a good way to get on his good side.

Harry however was used to people like this and merely said placating, "I am just a normal fourteen-year-old with a bit of an unusual past, but no worries I am just like you."

Ron snorted in a rather ugly way, "Yeah right. But anyways I just wanted to congratulate you for putting that snake in her place she can be rather rude."

Neville was about to say something to dismiss the boy, but Harry laughed, "I wasn't showing her place Ron or anything like that. She asked me for some dueling tips, and the only way I could offer her some assistance was to see her duel first hand, so we did, and I offered my advice as I saw fit."

Ron looked at the boy in wonder, "Why on Earth would you help a bloody snake?"

Harry stared at the boy and now recognized this for what it was bigotry, and that irritated the boy greatly, "A Bloody Snake? Daphne is quite the good-looking young lady who did me the favor of seeking me out and asked for my help I would have been an idiot and blind to turn her away. She now owes me something of a favor, which may result in me spending more time with her at a later date if I am so lucky."

Harry's wording was clear to Neville, and others who had heard it. He openly complimented the girl and did it calculatingly to allow the boy out of his social faux pas, but Ron Weasley was not so smart, "Still all snakes are just young death eaters in disguise. She'd hex you in the back as soon as you gave her the chance."

Harry rolled his eyes quickly becoming more and more irritated, "Perhaps, but that didn't happen today, and I will trust her until she gives me a reason not to, now forgive me for being short, but I must get back to my dormitory I have much homework to do."

Instead of waiting for a dismissal Harry quickly left and after a quick farewell Neville was behind him. Harry turned to the boy, "Is he always that rude."

Instead of getting mad or defending the boy he merely chuckled, "You have no idea."

 **(A/N) Well what do you think of Harry and Daphnes initial reactions together? More to come so please stay tuned. Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	4. A Marauder Plan

**Chapter 4**

Over the past several days Daphne had been practicing and training hard on what Harry had advised her to work on. The two had not really spoken other than friendly greetings since then, but she was hoping after the first task they could duel again, and he could tell her if she was improving or not, because she felt like she was already taking leaps.

When she had returned the Slytherin common room that night she contemplated Harry's fighting style, and wished she had a penseive to go back and watch it. The casual grace in which he dodged and fired spells was slightly familiar to her, which was impossible of course because she had never seen him duel before, but it was oddly familiar.

Her housemates had even bugged her a bit about the duel, and many had pestered her about what it was like to duel a champ, but she merely waved most of them off, and claimed that he taught her a few tricks and gave her a few ideas on how to improve, because of their similar interest in professional dueling and politics, which she hoped would discourage everyone from bothering Harry for dueling tips.

Draco had pestered the girl about trying to get the two a meeting that way they could discuss politics, but she assured him that she had no idea just where Harry stood on the full political climate, nor would she do anything that could possibly jeopardize any potential partnership she could have with the boy just, so the blonde ferret could have a political big shot meeting with him.

The girls of course had pestered her in the opposite way, and Tracey half-jokingly and half seriously suggested dueling him herself so she could be man handled by him. This caused all the girls to laugh, and Daphne to just roll her eyes, and claim he was very nice.

Pansy of course had been a little conceited about it saying that she was trying to sink her hooks in him early, which was smart, but for now Daphne didn't care for that. If she dueled him and Tracey snogged him after as a reward she could currently care less.

Practicing spell casting every night before bed had been exhausting however, and she could not wait to approach Harry and in fact she may just take a little bit more of his advice and see if Longbottom was worth as much salt as Harry claimed.

Two weeks had passed and only a week was left before the first task. Harry was starting to get nervous. He had no idea what the first task was, and that pretty much meant he had no plan. He had to act soon. His investigation on who put his name in the goblet was still dry even after personally examining the artifact to triple check the Headmaster's work. He had cast enough runes and wards around the thing to not understand just how someone masked their magical signature so well that he could just not understand it.

The classes at school were going well but were boring. The only memorable thing or noteworthy event was Professor Snape quizzing him. Considering who his family was he was well over the NEWT level for potions, so all the questions were answered with ease, and a tinge of disrespect since Harry knew the man was attempting to belittle him, and underhandedly make him look stupid, however two could play it that game, and most of the student body would agree that Harry had won that round. However, the potions master had redeemed himself already in Harry's eyes when he said that he had a lot more of his mother in him then his father and considering the two's history that he had learned from Sirius that was possibly the highest compliment Severus Snape could give someone.

When Harry arrived in Defense against the Dark Arts class that morning he sat with Anthony Goldstein as this was his usual partner in the class, and he kept his wand on his desk in case Alastor Moody tried to curse him again. He learned on day one that you better be ready for anything when it came to the old auror. Not that he was able to hit Harry with the jinx, but he sure did scare the life out of him when he threw a deadly looking green curse at him, which was just a shirt color hex that resembled the killing curse to the Tee.

When the man entered the whole room went silent as usual. This class was shared by the entire fourth year of Hogwarts, so it was a fairly good-sized class, but Moody was usually pretty strict, so no one liked talking if they thought he might say anything.

When Moody reached the front of the classroom he sat down his stuff and turned to face the class with his arms behind his back looking very much like the veteran warrior soldier he was, "Today I have been given permission to go over three of the most infamous curses in our world. The unforgivable curses. I will give a lecture and show a demonstration on a spider. The practical side of this lesson is completely optional as the Ministry would not allow me to force anyone to do it unfortunately..."

The man's eyes swirled around the room, and asked, "Any questions?"

When no one raised their hand he began, "There are three unforgivable curses. The use of any one of them would result in a life imprisonment in Azkaban prison and for good reason. Who could name one of the curses."

A few hands went up, but they were all Ravenclaw, and a few Gryffindor. Harry knew this had to be a touchy subject in Britain and even more so in this class, as many students had parents who had 'suffered' under the curses and some whom had died or worse. Su Li however was the first to offer one, "There is the Imperious Curse sir."

"Its purpose?" Moody asked sharply.

"To give complete control to the caster of the curse. You could ask the victim of the curse to do anything." Su Li Explained.

"Correct, five points to Ravenclaw. However, let me show you the fun and games, and danger to this spell." Moody said calmly.

He pulled a spider out of a jar and placed it into his hand enlarged it. He then cast the spell and commanded it to dance. It did, and many laughed at the spider doing a near jig. Then Moody grabbed a glass of water from nearby and commanded the creature to drown itself...no one laughed then, "Scores of witches and wizards were affected by this curse in the last war. Some did terrible things, but claimed to have been under the imperious curse, my question is how do we sort out the liars?"

No one offered an answer, and his eye even flicked over Malfoy for a moment too long and he looked angry, "Another."

Harry immediately looked at Neville across the room who was pale, but had his hand in the air, "Longbottom isn't it?"

Neville nodded, and spoke clearly, "There is the cruciatas curse."

"Its purpose?" Moody asked sharply.

Neville said nothing, but a girl with bushy hair sitting next to him answered carefully, "It is meant to torture your enemy, and cause them unimaginable pain all over their body."

Moody nodded not saying anything but drawing another spider and casting the curse on it causing it to twitch and make unnatural sounds. After thirty seconds Harry noticed Neville was becoming paler and paler, and he thought he may even have seen the boy blink away a tear. After another thirty seconds Harry spoke, "Enough...I think we get it."

Moody looked at the boy suddenly and everyone held their breath. He walked over to the boy and placed the twitching spider on his desk, "Perhaps you would like to give the class the last unforgivable curse Mr. Potter."

Harry stared at the man defiantly and just as Moody was about to offer an answer or a chance for someone else to answer the question Harry quickly drew his wand, "Avada Kedavra."

A flash of green light went through the room and spider was dead instantly Harry said frostily, "The killing curse."

Everyone stared at Harry in fear, and Mad-eye Moody looked impressed, "Fourteen and capable. The rumors of your power must not be completely unfounded. There is only one person to ever survive this curse..."

Harry said nothing but sat back down. Many people were staring at the boy in awe wondering just how the boy who lived knew how to cast such a dark curse. Daphne Greengrass was one of those few and had to say she was becoming more and more impressed with the boy by the day. Learning everything about a curse that should have killed him was smart, after all who knows the kind of effects it has on him or his magic today.

Moody looked around at the class, "Today's practical now. I have been granted permission to cast the imperious curse on anyone who is willing to participate. I am hoping to see some might show signs of resistance, and if nothing else show people what it is like to be held under such a curse, and the Ministry hopes in the future people might be able to recognize when they are under the influence a little easier."

Moody drew a line, "Gryffindor house first. Who is willing?"

For a moment no one dared to move, but then not much to Harry's surprise Neville stood, "I will do it."

Moody grinned, "Excellent 10 points to Gryffindor. Come come."

Neville walked to the front of the room, and Moody pointed his wand at him, "Just relax son I won't hurt you, just try to resist."

Neville nodded and when the spell was cast Moody commanded him to dance, and Neville didn't move, but only for a second, and then started doing some small jig with his shoulders and his hands, but his lower half of his body seemed to be trying its hardest not to move."

Moody broke the curse after a few seconds, "Not bad for a first attempt Longbottom. I could see you actively fighting it, I think they will have a hard time controlling you in a few years. Well done lad."

After that Moody asked for more volunteers. Neville's partner volunteered a long with Ron Weasley whom he had encountered a few weeks ago and avoided ever since. A few other nameless Gryffindors did as well, and fewer Hufflepuffs did, but when it was Ravenclaw's turn Harry was the only one to volunteer feeling that he needed to show this man just who he was dealing with.

Moody grunted under his breath, "I will make you an example."

Harry said back calmly but loud enough for everyone to hear, "Take your best shot you decrepit cripple."

The man grinned sickly as the class gasped at his insult, but as soon as the curse was cast Harry resisted yawning ever so slightly. This time the man looked at the boy in shock casting the spell again and commanding him to jump. Harry just stared defiantly at the man shaking off the effects almost instantly each time, "No."

Moody stared at the boy in wonder for a moment and then laughed, "You've got a fire in you Potter and I like that. Twenty points to Ravenclaw for fighting the curse. Well done indeed. They will never control your mind like this Potter."

Harry went back to his seat as people clapped politely and Anthony whispered, "How did you do that?"

"Powerful mind magicks. I have worked on them since I was old enough to read." Harry answered honestly, but quietly to the boy.

Mandy Brocklehurst was inspired by Harry's bravery and attempted to do the same, but ultimately failed, and then it was time for Slytherin's turn. No one volunteered and before class was dismissed Daphne Greengrass stood from her seat, "I will try it."

Moody grinned at the girl as she walked to the front, "Very well. Last volunteer then. Do your best and fight it."

Harry decided to offer a friendly tip, "Remember my defense to your attack."

Daphne looked at Harry questioningly for a moment, and then nodded in understanding as the curse washed over her, "Jump."

Daphne fought it. She fought it hard, but in the end, she bounced just a little bit showing that she was resisting the curse the best she could. Moody barked with laughter, "You see that she is fighting it. I could barely get a hop. Dance."

Daphne slowly started to sway, but this time she shook her head hard, "No."

"Run."

This time the girl took off running and clearly was out of steam to fight the curse, "That was the second-best defense all day. Very good. Take ten points to Slytherin. Now who can explain why she resisted the first command, but not the second?"

Neville's partner immediately shot her hand up, "Because Sir Daphne is a proud individual. Asking her to dance would have been embarrassing, and she was able to resist a little easier. Running however is something everyone does, so her mind and magic allowed her to comply with no hesitation at all. Had you given her time to think about the command she may have been able to resist it."

Moody boomed out, "Correct! Ten points to Gryffindor. The Imperious curse cannot make you do something you would never do. It can only put the thought in your mind and amplify what is already there. That may lead you all to ask yourselves this pertinent question. Who is the real bad witch or wizard? I believe that concludes this lesson. Now all of you get out and take this lesson with you forever CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

The class was dismissed in a muttering of discontent over the whole lesson. Harry was watching Daphne carefully watching for signs of magical exhaustion, but she looked okay and he decided to approach her, "Are you okay?"

The girl looked at the boy curiously, "Yes I believe so. I think your last second tip helped me a bit more than the others or even you might have guessed. I tried to brick wall him, which caused a nasty little headache, but it worked for a moment. Perhaps had I taken my wand up with me I could've shaken it enough to get a curse off which could mean all the difference in the world."

Harry nodded carefully, "You did well. Better than anyone else in our class."

"Other than you." Daphne responded with respect, "I would never have guessed, but I also suppose I shouldn't be surprised with the number of magical gifts you seem to possess."

Smiling at the girl he shook his head, "I try to be as well rounded as possible. I was worried my tactic might wear out your mind and put you in a bit of magical exhaustion. I suppose whatever you are doing has already begun to improve your magical stamina."

Daphne nodded happily, "I have been working a lot in the early evenings, and casting as many spells as I can manage before bed. It's a slow process, but I feel the slightest bit of progress already."

"That's great Daphne." The green-eyed boy said softly.

The girl took a good look at the boy with her piercing blue eyes, and it didn't take a natural legillmens to know that he hadn't been sleeping very well, and that he was very tired. She suddenly remembered what had brought the boy to the school and reminded herself that he must be under an immense amount of pressure and anxiety about the whole tournament.

As the two walked out of the class together Harry bade the girl a good rest of her afternoon, and before he could walk away, she gently grabbed his arm, "Harry? I hope you don't mind me questioning because I know it's none of my business, but do you know anything about the first task for the tournament?"

Harry flinched slightly, but covered it up quickly, "The task is designed to test our courage in the face of the unknown, so we have been given no information, and on a personal note I can honestly say as of right now I have no idea."

Reading in between the lines she easily realized that meant he was trying to find out, and that he may actually even already have a lead, "Well if you need anything or might want some help researching or studying feel free to ask me. I owe you one for the dueling tips."

Giving the girl one last smile he nodded, "I may take you up on that after the first task, but until then I will probably be busy preparing, and hoping to come up with a strategy. Until then though..."

Daphne understood the dismissal and bade the boy farewell for now and said a silent prayer that the green-eyed boy she was becoming friends with would be okay.

It was now three days before the task, and Harry was frantically trying to come up with a way to fight a dragon. His Godfather had sent him a Patronus in the middle of the night, and practically demanded that he meet him by Hagrid's hut. Considering it was two in the morning Harry figured it had to be important, and unfortunately it was.

The task was simple in nature, but very impossible to execute it seemed. He had to steal a fake egg from a nesting mother. This meant that several real eggs would be in the nest, but only one fake one. While that may only seem minorly horrifying he noticed a massive dragon that had been brought in at the last moment due to a fourth champion, and he just knew that fate was a fickle thing, and that the Hungarian Horntail would indeed be his.

He was in the library trying to discover everything he could about the magical beasts, but quite honestly, he wasn't sure he had a powerful enough spell arsenal to take one down not straight up at least. He just needed a good plan, but the small fear in the back of his mind was holding back his main line of thinking.

He had books spread across a table and he they all seemed to be open to different sections, and he just stared at them as if they were all a part of a puzzle, and that if he pieced them together his plan would be right there.

Neville had joined him in his research in the library when there was two days left, and they were still having no luck. On the night before Harry was starting to get worried, "We have a rudimentary strategy, but honestly it's just going to get me killed. Blinding the dragon is certainly going to piss it off, and it could even trample over its nest which would not be good. There isn't a spell known to wizards that could freeze one for more than a couple of seconds, unless I could somehow get on its back and blast it in the face over and over again with stunners and blasters to try and knock it out, but I am quickly thinking this situation is about to get completely fucked up beyond all recognition."

Harry didn't swear a lot which gave Neville a small hint at just how agitated he was. They had small privacy wards up that allowed them to talk at normal levels without being overheard, "It's just like with dueling Harry you may just have to trust your magic. This is probably why the task was not supposed to be known to the other champions, Merlin Harry it looks like you haven't slept in a week."

Harry murmured his sarcastic thanks to the boy and just stared at the texts seeming to truly believe an answer would soon just float of the page. However, it wasn't meant to be. Suddenly however two young ladies were standing just outside their privacy bubble, and Harry just about groaned knowing that this was not the time for distractions.

Giving Neville a clear look he nodded and dispelled the privacy wards, "Ms. Davis, Ms. Greengrass what can we help you with?"

Daphne didn't say much at all as she grabbed a chair Harry had pushed aside and grabbed a nearby book, "We are here to help. Harry you been in here for days studying magical creatures, and clearly you are no closer to a strategy then you were three weeks ago, or you would be spending time getting rest instead of living in the library. Now what do we know?"

Harry just stared at the girl in awe for a moment while her other friend rolled her eyes, "My BEST friend seemed to forget that we don't know each other. I am Tracey, Tracey Davis."

Smiling just so slightly but keeping most of his focus on Daphne he said, "It's a pleasure Tracey. Daphne I can't just tell you everything I know it goes against the rules of the tournament, plus I don't even know Tracey. No thanks you seem very nice."

Tracey put her feet up on the table completely ignoring the glare coming from the Librarian, "None taken."

Daphne shrugged, "I am a Slytherin I have never cared for rules that don't benefit me, and you dying in this task tomorrow certainly would not do that. You may be a lot more powerful, and a better duelist than anyone in this room, but what you may need now is just a different perspective."

Neville and Harry exchanged looks, and Neville spoke, "I am on your side in this Harry, but it's not like we have much time. We need a final strategy and we needed it yesterday."

Harry sighed and put the wards back around his area, "We are doing dragon taming tomorrow. We have to steal an egg from nesting mothers and return it safely while also not harming the real nest."

Daphne and Tracey both stared at the boy in awe and with a bit of fear and trepidation. Tracey muttered only loud enough for Daphne to hear, "Might as well snog you now you will be a dead man tomorrow."

Not even gracing the girl with a look at that comment she asked, "What do you have so far?"

"The weak spots of all dragons are the eyes and their faces in general. I thought of blinding it, but that would increase the odds of damaging the nest, and quite honestly, I don't want to permanently damage such a creature for a game that the wizarding entertainment is basically having at their expense. I have thought about summoning a broom, because I am a fair flyer, but that sounds like suicide and leaves a lot up to chance. I have thought about transfiguring a bunch of distractions, but that is also too risky." Harry said.

Tracey offered, "So basically you have nothing."

Neville interrupted Harry's rude retort saying, "Basically."

Daphne stared at text nearby and said nothing for several moments. Then she said, "Okay I may have a plan to get the egg but getting out is going to be the tricky part, and it also depends on your skills in charms and transfiguration."

Neville snorted, "I am sure he knows just about every spell through the NEWT level Daphne what are you thinking?"

Harry didn't say anything as he observed the girl carefully who seem to wither just a bit under his gaze, but held her confidence, "My best thought to get the egg is to use a few of your previous strategies thoughts. You could transfigure a couple of objects, and then make yourself invisible so it's just distracted and making noise. This would mean you would need a good disillusionment charm, and a silencing charm. Are you capable of both of those things?"

Harry nodded liking where the idea was going, "Yes certainly, and then I could..."

The boy's eyes lit up suddenly, and Neville groaned, "Oh no Harry, I know that face. This is not the time."

Both Tracey and Daphne looked at the boy in alarm while he laughed, "I disagree this is the perfect time. I am the son of a Marauder and the godson of another, and I am on their playground this is the perfect chance to show off and wow some people. Daphne, I like your idea of going invisible and silent, but the rest of the plan isn't my style because then its running for my life. I have a much better idea."

He told the group his plan and Neville and Daphne paled while Tracey whispered, "You've got iron balls Potter and I respect the hell out of you for just thinking of this plan."

Neville banged his head on the table slightly, "I will start inviting people to the funeral, should I put Lilies on your casket to honor your mother?"

Daphne stared at the boy with hope that a joke was coming, but when nothing came, she just stared at him, "If you pull this off you will be more legendary than any of those stupid fake stories about you."

Harry just grinned at the assembled teenagers smirking, "That's the plan."

 **(A/N) I am very happy to see such positive reviews coming into the story! I am a little disappointed that many people have not reviewed yet, but I am hoping as we progress through the stories more will chime in with their input. I have really enjoyed writing this, and hope everyone else is enjoying the adventure. Please to keep my inspiration up for this story read and review, and most importantly enjoy!**


	5. The First Task

**Chapter 5**

Harry had slept fairly well the night before. However, he was very anxious for the task, and it was more because he just wanted to get it over with and kill the suspense of knowing whether he was capable of the magic he was thinking of attempting. His friends had spent hours trying to talk him out of it, but his mind was made, and the plan was set.

The morning of the first task he was stretching and bouncing around in the champions tent wearing a uniform with the house Potter and Flamel logos and a dark black and blue cloak to match his Hogwarts House, while he also had the Wampus symbol on it because that was his house at Ilvermony, or so his friends told him he was at least an honorary one. Sirius was trying to get the plan out of him that morning to see if he would relent, "Come on Pup you got to give me something. Yesterday you had nothing, and today when you saw me you looked like you just got shagged for the first time. What's the deal?"

Harry laughed at his Godfather's humor, "Unfortunately I did not get shagged, but if I pull off my plan today, I may be beating them away with a beaters bat to keep it from happening."

This caused the man to bellow with laughter, "I am so proud. Taught you everything I know."

"Which wasn't much." Harry quipped.

The man was just about to get offended, but a new more feminine voice commented, "Well he has that right at least. Sirius Black how many times have I told you to stop corrupting my son with your womanizing tendencies?"

Pernelle Flamel, the immortal alchemist was standing in front of the two wizards with her hands on her hips clearly displeased on walking in on the back side of an inappropriate conversation, "Now what is this I hear about a crazy plan?"

Harry grinned, while Sirius shouted accusing, "You told a bird, but you won't tell me? The betrayal."

Laughing Harry retorted, "It was actually my friend Daphne's plan, but I just modified it to my liking. Both of you will just have to wait and see."

With that said Harry hugged his Godfather, and gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek as she shot a stinging hex at his but which he deflected wandlessly back at Sirius who let out a literal bark, "Hey whose side are you on?"

This caused Harry to chuckle lightly, "Just have some faith. Nicholas is going to love my plan I hope he is here today. Just make sure you don't blink, or you could miss something exciting."

Pernelle looked at the boy she had come to care about so much over the years and sighed while Sirius said, "I recognize that look Sirius. Nicholas used to get it when he was up to mischief."

Harry cheekily responded as he walked away from the pair, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

This caused the present Marauder to nearly cry with joy, and his heart wrenched as he watched the boy, he had cared about his whole life walk away into a very dangerous task. For a moment he thought about stopping him, and calling the whole thing off, but he trusted the boy, and when he put his mind to something there was nothing he couldn't do. Just like James he thought proudly.

As Harry approached the tents, he could see Neville, Daphne, and Tracey who were all up in the stands clearly dreading the coming conflict between Harry and whichever dragon he drew, while Harry walked into the tent joking with the other champions about who would come in last, and it was whoever died first. This caused the already pale champions to pale further and start to have even more anxiety leading Cedric to say, "Harry mate I know we aren't really friends yet, so this may be a bit aggressive but if you don't shut up, I am going to hex you into the next year."

Harry laughed and just kept going about his business when the judges arrived and 'informed' the champions of their task. They then drew their order, and their dragon. It was not even the slightest surprise to Harry when he drew the Horntail and briefly contemplated if the whole thing was rigged against him.

The task played its course for nearly an hour before Harry was summoned. None of the champions had died from what he could tell by the crowd's reactions, but he also assumed all of them had taken at least some minor injuries by that same logic.

When Harry came out into the arena, he at once saw the rocky terrain, and saw the dragon staring him down from across the arena. He smirked a bit at the creature and whipped his wand around and began animating rocks nearby, and transfiguring others into wolves to attack the giant creature super aggressively so they wouldn't cause it to fall on the nest or allow it enough room to accidentally stampede any part of it. He then disillusioned himself and silenced his footsteps and went into a full run which allowed people to keep an eye on him, but the dragon was distracted with all his creations to focus on the slight shimmering sprinting towards the nest.

Many people cheered as the wolves attacked and did minor damage to the raging creature, but after just a few seconds the cheers turned to confusion when the shimmer ran past the eggs and to the dragon.

When he was in range Harry quickly turned the lunging wolves into iron chains, and even faster turned them into the heaviest metals he could think of and cemented them into the ground. He did this so fast the crowd blinked, and one chain had strapped the dragon down and threw it off balance. Then another in a few seconds, and then another, as the wolves started dissipating, and more even joined the battle as the boy was a blur of constant movement and instant decision. To those who did not know he knew of this task before hand they thought it was Merlin level magic, but honestly it was just some NEWT level Transfiguration, and a lot of spell casting.

After less than a minute had passed Harry had taken the beast to the ground and revealed himself to the creature and the audience. The creature was furious and struggled under the weight of the chains and let out a bellowing roar to show its disapproval. At this point Harry propelled himself onto the creatures back as it squirmed, and he was now throwing rapid fire hexes at the creature's head without it being able to maneuver much. Being on the back of a dragon, particularly one with razor sharp edges and skin was horrifying, but Harry had to commit to the plan, or it would cost him everything. After about a minute of his assault the dragon went down and into unconsciousness as Harry now just stared at the knocked-out creature. He was still on top of it, as if he was merely a dragon rider, and he leaned back and laid on the dragon for a second in relief. He stepped off the dragon easily, and walked around to it, and began waving his wand in an intricate pattern changing all the chains into metal poles, and creating a small metal prison for the creature not unlike the one he came in. Finally, Harry transfigured another rock into a giant muzzle and easily placed it onto the passed-out giant of a dragon, and then Harry walked over to the egg, checked his watch and saw that only seven minutes had passed, and merely plucked it up and strolled back to the exit.

The applause was deafening, and Harry gave good natured waves as he exited the stadium. He grinned at the success of his plan, after all it was Daphne's introduction to the meeting and giving him the idea of invisibility that gave him the ability to get close enough to transfigure all those chains. Had he not been a prodigy in transfiguration and had the speed of a champion duelist the encounter might have gone very differently.

When he strolled into the tents the other champions looked at him in awe. Not a scratch and compared to Viktor and Cedric who had both sustained pretty good injuries, and Fleur whom had at least been burnt they were amazed that this youngest among them was so unscathed and had done it so quickly. Fleur was the first to greet him, "Merdre, what did you do? How did you do it?"

Harry grinned tossing the egg onto a nearby bed, "Easy just a little bit of dragon taming, and sorry it took so long I leaned back and just about passed out from exhaustion when I was laying on top of it."

Cedric looked at the boy in confusion, "Tell me you didn't do something stupid like try to ride on its back right?"

Laughing Harry responded with, "Oh I didn't try. I did. My mother will be furious my ears are already ringing."

"The yelling will come much later my darling son. Today I will only congratulate you on a beautiful display of power and control." There at the front of the tent were the two Flamel's and his Godfather with Pernelle already heading towards her son in a fast walk with him going to meet her in the middle to embrace, "I am so proud of you." She whispered into his ear quietly.

Then she backed up and allowed Nicholas and Sirius a chance, Sirius spoke first, "I am so proud of you pup! That was an excellent display of magic. I had no idea you had the magical stores to pull something off like that you must have cast over a hundred spells in that match."

Harry grinned at his godfather and brought his father in for a hug next "That was brilliant. When you sent that letter two days ago that you still didn't have much of a tactic to fight whatever magical creature you faced you had me worried, but it seems it was unfounded, and that your thinking on the fly was as brilliant as usual."

This caused the other champions to exchange guilty glances, had he not known about the dragons. Seeing the looks exchanged Harry spoke carefully, "I had some good friends give me some good tips. I was prepared to fight a plethora of magical creatures, and they helped me adapt different strategies to adjust to the overall size of the creature we may be facing. We didn't predict a dragon, but we predicted a few things in its size class. After all, historically speaking the first task usually faced the champions off against some sort of magical creature or at least had one in the task somehow."

Cedric came over to greet Harry's parents in introduction, and asked, "If you were preparing to fight something as big as a dragon what was your first guess?"

Harry shrugged, "I feared a manticore, or a king sized acromantula considering the colony in the woods. I briefly even considered a basilisk because I know Britain used to be famous for having them on the isles many centuries ago. My only doubt was how would you prevent it from killing the crowd, and how would we be able to identify the beast without looking at its face."

All three champions paled thinking about the results that surely would have befallen them had they been forced to fight the king of snakes.

Before anything else could be said on the matter Nicholas placed a hand on Harry, "Each parent was only given a few minutes to check on their champion, but we wanted to say how proud we were, and to let you know the scores would be coming."

At this Harry smiled and stood up walking outside the medical tent with his parents at his side and he felt invincible. The Headmaster of Hogwarts stood once he made brief eye contact with Harry, "The scores are among the highest in the history of the tournament. For as far back as we can find Harry Potter has tied with the highest score ever given a 48 on the total score. From the Hogwarts Headmaster myself I give a perfect 10, for not only having the best time but not doing lasting damage to the nest or the creature. British Ministry of Magic representatives both give 10s for daring, power, control, and time. The Durmstrang High Master gave a 9 in deduction for one point for wasting time to cage the dragon. The French Headmistress also gave a 9 and deducted one point for similar reasons. Congratulations Mr. Potter for such astounding work in the face of danger and adversity."

Harry held out a fist of victory in the air as the stadium applauded him. When he turned around Neville was standing there, "You're a crazy bastard."

Smirking cheekily, he laughed, "Did you enjoy the show?"

Neville looked like he could hit the boy, but instead brought him in for an embrace, "Well done mate."

Grinning the two separated and Daphne was shortly behind the boy with her best friend, "When you said you were going to tame a dragon you weren't kidding. That was brilliant, but terrifying."

Tracey not being as shy as the girl jumped into his arms, "You are the craziest most powerful young wizard I have ever met. You are insane. I just can't believe you laid there for a second like it was some type of pillow. You idiot, and the judges taking off a point for caging it, bullshit I mean you did their job for them!"

Just then Tracey blushed letting go of the boy looking at his parents, "I am Tracey Davis by the way I apologize for my language it just comes out when I get worked up sometimes."

Nicholas laughed, "That is okay young lady. I think any reaction after watching their friend fight a dragon can be a little vulgar. Nicholas Flamel."

Sirius grinned nudging Harry with elbow gently, "Oh I like her Pup."

Harry blushed lightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Daphne, but she didn't hear what the man had said. Trying to avoid any potential rudeness or social faux pas Daphne offered her hand to the men in greeting, "It is good to finally meet you Master Flamel, Lord Black."

The older man laughed heartily, "Just Nicholas will be fine dear. I am too old for anything else. The formalities take all the fun out of life, unless I am abusing someone in the political arena of course. Even my son here seems to take that after me as well when he can."

Sirius laughed as well, "Lord Black was my father save the Lord stuff for the Wizengamot."

The men both winked at the boy and he grinned as Harry introduced them to his surrogate mother who greeted both girls warmly.

Neville then asked as they walked back into the medical tent, "So what's the egg for anyways? At the end of Cedric's task who went first the headmaster said that it was a clue to the second task."

Harry shrugged and flicked his wrist causing the egg to sore towards him, and he examined it carefully under the eyes of many gaping people. After a moment of silence, he looked up to see everyone staring at him in awe, "What? Something on my face?"

No one said a word, but Fleur drew her wand, "Accio Golden egg."

Just like that the egg flew into her hand, "It was so simple. We all could've died for it, and all we had to do was summon it."

Suddenly Harry realized what everyone was looking at, "They didn't charm the egg to not be able to be summoned, and no one thought to try it?"

Harry was exasperated, frustrated, and quite ready to hit someone but a soft chuckle entered the room, "Sometimes the solution is far simpler than the task may seem. However, had you merely summoned the egg I am sure many of the judges including myself would have given you quite poor scores, after all that would not have shown much courage, and skill. However, we left a loophole in the task to allow a chance for nothing, but survival."

Daphne however shook her head, "I think I would've taken the opportunity to live a little longer."

The champions all nodded at this staring at their eggs in appreciation that they had actually earned them no matter the cost. Then a piercingly loud noise entered the room, and shrieks of deafening proportions shook the tent, and as fast as they had come, they stopped. Dumbledore turned to look at Hogwarts Champion, "I will advise you from opening that egg again Mr. Diggory, doing that indoors would be quite detrimental to anyone's hearing."

Harry and Daphne looked at each other with wide eyes at this proclamation. Had the headmaster just given all the champions a hint at how to solve the puzzle. Harry only barely shook his head at the girl indicating she should keep silent, while the other two champions stared at their eggs in puzzlement.

The other parents had re-entered the tent now and Amos Diggory was the only one to approach Harry after speaking to his son for only a moment, "Harry Potter. You have caused quite a stir in our government recently."

Harry respectfully side stepped the accusation, "The government must not have very important matters to deal with right now if the appearance of a fourteen-year-old teenager can shake things up so badly."

Dumbledore and Mr. Diggory both chuckled at this while the younger man replied, "That may be true. Your stunt on the international dueling circuit however has many people still reeling. I am curious when you go back to defend your title next year will you continue to go by James Flamel, or Harry Potter?"

"I plan to continue using my alias. It is a reminder to me and the world that I have not forgotten my name or my ancestry. The Potter name is still carried, but I am the heir to many houses, and I will never forget my heritage." Harry said gratifyingly.

The man put a hand on his shoulder, "That is good to hear. In fact, the way you just answered my question, I have a feeling I may be looking at my old alliance contract with house Potter. I could see you as a great ally in the political future Mr. Potter."

Sirius putting two hands on his Godsons shoulder said, "Hopefully politics won't be in the too distant future for my Godson here. He is quite the shark, and I know I sure miss his father's voting block from the little time we had together working in the government."

Harry grinned shaking the man's hand addressing the eldest Diggory, "If House Diggory remains to stand in the same light it has been in the past few centuries, I think you can count on that Lord Diggory."

This caused the man to laugh and return to his son as Nicholas put a hand on his son's shoulder and led him out of the tent with his friends and mother in toe.

On the way out one of the judges from the task stopped the boy in passing, "Potter well done today. Your parents would have been very proud."

Harry gave the man a slight nod and smile, but he was unaware just how well this stranger could have known his parents. He was certainly unfamiliar to him, "Thank you sir. For the score and your kind words"

Harry detected something strange as he walked past the man. Something familiar, but he could not quite place it. He had been having dreams earlier in the Summer before the disaster and the World Cup, and briefly wondered how it all was related. The young man merely shrugged it off. He had after all just battled a dragon, and it was completely normal to have weird side effects during adrenaline crashes.

As they reached the grounds of Hogwarts Nicholas stretched his arms up and said, "Kids do you mind if we borrow our son just for a moment. It is time for us to head home, but don't worry we won't hold him long, and I am sure we will all be seeing each other real soon."

The others agreed easily and gave the four some space as they walked back to the school, and only Daphne glanced back curiously as Harry was waving his wand summoning privacy wards. Pernelle spoke softly and kept an even face, "I fear the matter is more severe than we originally realized."

Harry looked at the women trying to keep an even face, "What do you mean?"

Nicholas sighed, "Have you ever heard of a woman by the name of Bertha Jorkins?"

"Doesn't ring any bells is the witch famous?" Harry asked obliviously.

Sirius shook his head, "Probably not to most people, but she worked for Barty Crouch, the man who just spoke to you, as the second in command of the Department of International Cooperation. She is missing, and according to our friends at Gringotts she is unofficially dead."

Harry's eyes widened the death of a senior official in the Ministry was big news, and the fact that the Ministry didn't know about it since the death is still unofficial was even more interesting news, "This can't all be unrelated. The attack at the Quidditch World Cup, my name coming out of the goblet of fire, and now this missing Ministry agent."

Nicholas nodded, "Voldemort is on the move."

Harry flinched at the name. He had the nightmares. He had heard the prophesy. He knew his fate. He also knew the consequences of the man returning far earlier than they ever would have expected, "I don't understand. I thought we had years left to prepare."

Pernelle shook her head sadly, "With the dreams that you have had and the digging we have been doing I fear we don't as much as time as previously guessed."

"What do we do?" Harry asked trying not to let the fear show.

Nicholas shook his head, "Nothing now. We keep digging and get proof. We prepare, and you need to be ready to fight always at a moment's notice. Whether it's to run for your life or stop an attempt on it. With Moody and Dumbledore in the castle I believe you are safe, however your name ended up in that goblet somehow and if they slipped past those two once they can do it again, and you need to be ready."

"I will do what must be done." Harry said honestly.

Sirius looked at the boy strangely, and looked to see his friends standing off nearby, Daphne of whom was watching him, "You haven't told her about the Summer, have you? I recognized her the moment I saw her."

"I haven't told anyone about the Summer. Besides I am not even sure it was her. I never got a good look. Though I did suspect..." Harry said trailing off in thought.

Sirius shook his head, "Don't try and kid yourself Pup. I think she may even have her suspicions, or maybe her thoughts, but it wouldn't hurt to tell her. Plus, I think it would be good to talk to someone your age about it. She seems tough and seems to be pretty interested in your friendship. Even talking to Neville maybe would help. You can't fool that girl forever; besides I remember what it was like the first time I-"

"Sirius, I get it. I will think about it, but no promises okay." Harry said heatedly. It was a discussion the family had not had, and they all knew it had to happen eventually, but Harry was adamant about avoiding it forever if he could.

His godfather shook his head sadly, and his parents looked anywhere but at his eyes in this moment, "Is there anything else? I don't want to keep my friends waiting much longer."

Nicholas sighed heavily, "I believe that is just about everything. However, I don't want this to catch you unaware, but the Yule Ball will indeed be taking place this year so choose your companion wisely. I am sure whoever you choose unless they are a muggleborn might be sending us a marriage contract shortly after, but not to worry. Let's not make this all any more political than it needs to be."

Sirius throwing an arm around his Godson wiggling his eyebrows, "In fact let's make it as far from political as possible."

Harry groaned at the innuendo, but laughed good naturedly at the same time, "Thanks Padfoot. Please just keep me updated as things continue to unravel. Maybe we will find the culprit in all this, and it won't be as bad as we have made it sound."

The adults all gave the boy small smiles at his optimism and gave final hugs before they departed. At this Harry walked over to his friends and gave them all the brightest smile he could manage in the dark times and said, "Let's go see if Ravenclaw threw a party for its champion!"

 **(A/N) I hope you enjoyed my version of the first task! I have toyed with different versions of this story before, and I have never gotten as far as I have now on this. I just finished the tournament in my pre writings, so I think it is looking decent so far. Something I may need to fix though is that I haven't addressed the possibility of Harry being a Horcrux. The plot continuity problem I am having is that the Flamel's are so ancient and well versed in magic I am having a hard time justifying that they wouldn't have known or understood the link between Harry and Voldemort. Thoughts, advice, or tips? Please leave them in your reviews! Cheers!**


	6. Speaking the Language

**Chapter 6**

The days had passed by slowly since the first task. Most of the excitement in the school had seriously been toned down. Harry and Daphne had however been very busy. Within the first seven days of the first task being over they had completed the riddle of the second task. It was quite simple actually, and Dumbledore's hint gave them the best starting point.

Daphne was knowledgeable about magical languages and easily explained to Harry that some languages you had to hear in certain environments. For some they had to be at a certain altitude, for some they had to be heard at certain levels of heat like in a volcano, and others at times they had to be heard under water. Considering that Hogwarts had a lake full of Merpeople it didn't take the two long to figure out that the egg needed to be dumped under water.

The message had shaken Harry a bit, but knew he basically had three months to figure out what he wanted to do, and Neville had already suggested Gillyweed if nothing else could be thought of. This left Harry owing Daphne quite a bit for the help with the first two tasks, and this led to them sharing a lot of time dueling together under Neville's watchful eye.

Daphne had finally seen Neville in action at reading dueling tactics and had gratefully accepted some small tips to help her in the dueling arena, while Harry was pretty much helping her be a more proficient spell caster, and witch as a whole. It was almost as if Neville was her dueling coach, and Harry was slightly more important being the magic coach.

They had spent lots of evenings working on their dueling and mornings on their cardio together, and Daphne had come a really long way in a short period of time, Harry had even confided in her that had they met a few years earlier and hit it off that she would probably already be a champion level duelist. This was quite the boost to the girl's ego, and it was one she desperately needed after being attacked at the Quidditch World Cup.

Tracey and Daphne were hanging out on a Sunday night in the Slytherin Dormitory alone just after the official announcement of the Yule Ball, and Tracey was trying to gossip with the girl, "Who do you think I should go with? You think Blaise might go with me? I think I would let him play ball with me a bit if he showed me a good time."

Daphne looked at her best friend in surprise, "You aren't going to ask Harry? Or at least wait and see if Harry ask you?"

Tracey laughed, "No I think I have about as good of a chance as Fleur Delacour does."

This puzzled Daphne, Fleur was certainly beautiful, perhaps one of the most beautiful girls Daphne had ever even seen and she certainly didn't swing that way, "I don't understand. If you have as good of a chance as Fleur, then you probably have a pretty good chance at going with him. They flirt from time to time."

It had annoyed Daphne a bit how much Fleur hit on Harry in front of her, it was almost as if she was trying to get a rise out of Daphne, but she had not risen to anything yet. Tracey however looked at the girl like she was being naive, "Don't get me wrong if I was a guy, I would do anything to bag Fleur Delacour, but other than the fact that Harry appreciates that she is a hot girl she doesn't interest him. She knows it and I know it because I am in the same boat."

Daphne shook her head, "I don't know. They are both really good duelists and come from the same crowds of people. They even have lots of common friends and fought together on the U17 dueling circuit. I think there is a good chance that he will ask her, or that she will ask him."

Tracey just gave her disapproving look, "Fleur is too prideful to ask a guy, and the first eligible boy that ask her is going to get a yes. The main thing she is probably looking for is someone who will shake her Veela allure which will be a trick, as most of the boys are drooling messes around her. Harry won't ask her either, because as much as he enjoys flirting with her, she is still his competition in both the dueling world, and the tournament, and I could totally see that getting in the way of him asking her. You forget they didn't just compete together they competed against each other."

"So why not ask you?" Daphne asked.

"Don't get me wrong I think I have a chance, but if Blaise ask me then I am going to say yes and take the chance that I may kick myself later, for not waiting for Harry to ask me." The girl said sadly.

"Who do you think he will take?" The girl asked curiously.

Tracey grinned wickedly, "The going bet around the castle is you. Some girls have even speculated that he has already asked you, and that's why you'll keep disappearing together."

"Neville is with us, and everyone knows we are dueling together." Daphne said defensively.

"I think you overestimate the number of people who know you are that interested in dueling, and that Longbottom is his coach, and also disappearing at the same time as you." Tracey said calmly.

"So, what half the castle things we are having some type of sordid affair? That is ridiculous. We are just friends."

"Isn't that just too bad though?" The girl said winking.

Daphne looked at the girl puzzled, "What do you mean?"

The girl groaned, "Oh come on Daph, the boy is gorgeous, and he is fun to be around. He is also funny, super powerful, and really nice. He is pretty much the whole package, he is even going to be the head of a bunch of Ancient and Noble houses when he comes of age, he is kind of perfect."

"Don't put him on such a pedestal Tracey it's not healthy." Daphne said only slightly considering her words.

Raising her hands defensively the girl said, "I know he isn't actually perfect Daph, mostly because I still don't know much about him or his past. Who knows he could have giant shadows lingering over his head from bad things, but no one knows because he hasn't really opened to anyone here except maybe Neville? Not that he should, I am just saying he hasn't. I am also saying that you should hint gently that you don't have a date to the ball and see if he bites."

Sighing the girl said, "I just don't think he sees me that way?"

Tracey looked at her best friend carefully and spoke, "Perhaps because you aren't looking at him that way."

"Explain." Daphne said bewildered.

"All you have done is ask him to help you in magic and dueling. That is basically the boys first language from what he has told us about himself. Since that's the language you speak to him in, that's the only language he speaks back in. If suddenly you tried to drop hints that you were interested in speaking other ways, I think he could start thinking about it and start being receptive. You are probably the best competition to Fleur Delacour in this castle that has a chance with him. If she wasn't so prideful, I could guarantee that they would go together, but I have caught glimpses of her personality and I can almost guarantee you they won't. I mean you do like him, right?" Tracey asked curiously.

Daphne looked out the nearby window to the grounds of Hogwarts and thought for a moment. He was very kind to her so far, but that was mostly because they had been super beneficial to each other. She gave him great advice with the tournament, and even helped him with solving the second task. In return he helped her with dueling. Was their relationship purely based off mutual need for each other or could there be something there. He had commented that she had impressed him with her looks the first time they had dueled, and she could not deny that he was very good looking, and powerful, and a great duelist, and had a great family ancestry to satisfy her Pureblood parents, "I think I do. I mean sometimes you just don't know until you do something about it, I guess. I enjoy spending time with him, and you are right he is good looking. Perhaps if I initiate something or get him too, we can find out if there is something between us."

Tracey threw her hands up, "That's all you can do. You are gorgeous Daph if he doesn't want to go with you, or you decide you don't want to go with the local dragon tamer, then I am sure you will still find some hunk to be on the arm of on the night of the ball."

This caused Daphne to smile and allow her to begin planning how she would bring it up to him.

It had been a long night of dueling on the first weekend of December. Harry and Daphne had spent all evening dueling and doing some good training together. A week had passed since her conversation with Tracey, and tonight was the night that she was going to try and get his attention.

Neville had been out for the night as he had some homework to work on, so Harry had worked her hard on building up her shields and making sure they could last against continuous assaults in the dueling leagues, "You have come a long way. I can't wait to see you duel on the circuit next year. Neville will be ecstatic, and since we would have the same coach, we would be on opposite sides of the bracket so it's possible we could fight in the finals one day."

Daphne smiled at the boy, "That would be incredible, but I would just be happy with winning a few duels my first year. I think then I could really focus on trying to win. After all I have never competed on that level. My father is pretty against it, but from the letters I have been writing to my mum I think she will allow it."

Harry grinned at the girl, "If I have to, I can use some of my political pull to put some pressure on him. He would be crazy to not let you train with two future Lords of Ancient and Noble houses. I don't usually like to throw around titles, but if it will help get you in the ring, I will do it."

Daphne stared at the boy with wide eyes, "Really you'd do that for me?"

Harry nodded easily taking a sip of his water, "Yeah definitely. You have a lot of talent Daphne, and it would be wasted if you didn't get out there and throw down your hat with the best."

Some of Harry's metaphors never made sense to Daphne, but she knew he was doing her a serious favor and jumped happily and hugged him tightly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you. This means so much to me. I will finally get a chance, and while I never thought my father would let me do it with enough persuasion if you got involved there would be no way he would turn it down."

Harry just laughed at the girl's enthusiasm and hugged her back. When they separated, he smiled and walked away stretching a bit quietly and looking around the unused classroom they had been practicing in. Daphne took a deep breath this was her chance, "Hey Harry? What are your plans for the Christmas holidays?"

Harry looked at the girl, "Oh I don't know. I guess after the Yule Ball I will go back home for a week or two. I will probably visit some friends and my Godfather for a bit, and then work on this project with my dad. I have been working on it at nights for the whole term I have been here, and hopefully he and I can make some big moves over the break."

The project sounded interesting, and Daphne desperately wanted to ask about it, but focused herself to stay on target, "This Yule Ball thing is getting kind of crazy. I have already heard some pretty good stories about people asking each other. Did you hear about Ron Weasley's failed attempt at Fleur Delacour?"

Harry winced, "Owch he asked Fleur to the ball?"

Ignoring the fact that Harry and the French Champion were on a first name basis she said, "Yeah and then he ran away. Didn't even wait for her response. I overheard her talking with some of her friends that she will pretty much go with anyone that can resist her allure."

She observed Harry carefully at that, and very much wished she could use her passive legillmency on him, but she knew it would not work, and that he would know if she tried. A brief look of thought passed through his countenance, but then he shook his head, perhaps Tracey had been right, "Well I hope she finds someone suitable. Resisting a Veela's allure is tricky, and I don't know too many under age wizards that can do it. I know a few in House Ravenclaw that definitely could, so maybe one of them will have the pleasure."

Tracey was right. Harry had no intention of asking Fleur. Then Daphne just went for it, "Any thoughts on who you might take?"

Flipping his wand in his hand, not at all focused on her thankfully he responded, "A little bit, but I am not sure. Being who I am as a champion and political figure I must be careful as not to make too big of a splash. I don't really want to deal with that right now. I am trying to be safe in my pick, but honestly, I hadn't put much thought into it. I guess I should though considering I am a champion and have to have a date."

Daphne suddenly had butterflies in her stomach, should she ask him, or had she dropped enough hints? Before she could say something however a smile crossed his face, "Hey, you never told me who you were going with?"

Daphne now was not looking at him as she walked around the room pretending to stretch and catch her breath as she had done after their training, "I don't know either. I am old school, so someone is definitely going to have to ask me or I won't go. I had one guy from your house ask me, but he has been rather rude to Tracey in the past, so I told him no."

Harry's smile got a little wider she noticed out of the corner of her eye, "Well would you consider going with me then? I promise I will be a perfect gentleman, and you would be a perfect date for me. You are a pureblood, and a big dueling prospect now, so it would make a lot of sense when the media got a hold of it. Might keep some of the heat off me, and I can easily deflect most of it away from you."

Daphne frowned for a moment, was he only asking her because it was convenient? Deciding to go ahead and play with the cards that were on the field she asked, "Are you asking me as a friend or as a date?"

This caught Harry off guard clearly. He had not expected such a question, "Ummm..."

Daphne laughed, "Finally have you at a loss for words. It's about time I did it."

Harry however proved himself a worthy heir of Godric Gryffindor however and steeled his nerves over, "As a date. If you don't want to go as a date, I suppose being friends would not change the fact that I would like to go with you, but if it is alright, I think I'd rather it be more legitimate."

That was better, not completely what she wanted, but much better, "Alright then. I would love to go with you. Only if you promise to be a perfect gentleman. I would hate to ruin what we have going here."

Harry gave the girl a smile offering his hand to her, "I promise."

The girl easily took his hand and smiled back at him brightly. Harry then stretched his shoulders back, "Well all in a day's work then. Shall I walk you back to your common room?"

Daphne nodded happily and gathered up her stuff and followed Harry down to the dungeons. Just as she wished him a goodnight she walked to the portrait and thought of something she had not thought of, "Hey Harry, I didn't ask but do you even know how to dance?"

His response of laughing and saying goodnight was not reassuring in the least, but he had been a near perfect pureblood so far, so she was skeptical that he didn't at least kind of know how to do it. She would corner Neville at a later date and find out one way or another.

 **(A/N) Daphne and Harry going to the ball! Lots of drama coming in the future, stay tuned, and please tell me what you think so far.**


	7. A New Enemy

**Chapter 7**

The weeks leading up to the Yule Ball had been mostly uneventful and fast for Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass. They had kept up with their earlier schedule of dueling at nights and physical conditioning in the mornings, and of course studies and school work during the day. It was in these days that Daphne realized just how smart Harry was. The boy wasn't simply some powerful wizard with some powerful magics and gifts, but the boy was truly a scholar worthy of House Ravenclaw. His ease in his studies was downright puzzling at times, and she wondered just what it would have been like to grow up in the Flamel house hold.

Daphne loved that Harry was so smart though, because the boy was also a great teacher. He never criticized her for not picking something up fast enough, but instead he gently guided her to the answers and crafted it, so she could still find them on her own. She had yet to comment to him about it, but the young man could have a serious calling in the teaching profession.

Harry on the other hand just enjoyed spending his time with the pretty blonde girl that he was now seeing possibilities with in the back of his mind. He also enjoyed working on their school work together, because Nicholas always told Harry that if you could teach something well then you truly understood the practical and the theoretical side of the magic.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend just a few days before the Yule Ball, and Harry along with Daphne and his other friends were hanging out in the Three Broom Sticks having a good time. Earlier in the afternoon the group had separated in boys' and girls' groups to purchase dress robes or make alterations to the already purchased clothing if it was needed. This also gave Harry an extra day to buy some Christmas gifts for his friends and family, so he had a great day.

Sitting at a round table with a group of friends Harry looked at Neville who had brought his date Susan Bones into the group, while her best friend Hannah Abbot and Ernie McMillan were with group, and Anthony Goldstein and Mandy Brocklehurst who were also each other dates to the Yule Ball. Harry had just bought the next round of drinks, and he was genuinely having a good time, "So Ms. Bones how exactly did you catch my favorite lions' attention?"

Neville proving himself the worthy Gryffindor however helped the girl out for a second, "I mean have you seen her Harry, she didn't have to do anything special to catch my eye."

At that he turned and winked at the girl who blushed, "I think I like this side of you Neville. I think I need to bring you around Harry more often."

Daphne asked the girl curiously, "What do you mean?"

"I don't think I have ever seen him so confident then he is when Harry is around. I noticed that since Harry arrived here." Susan explained calmly.

Raising his glass to the boy slightly Harry said, "Neville is my oldest friend in the world, so naturally we bring out the best in each other, and sometimes when we get up to no good the worst."

Neville raised his glass back, "I do solemnly swear."

Harry clicked his glass to the boy while some of the others looked questioningly at the inside joke, but Harry prompted Susan to answer the question originally asked and she smiled, "It was actually rather sweet. I think I had been stealing glances at him for a while, and he just seemed different over the past month, and definitely had a big boost in confidence, so naturally before I could muster the confidence to ask him, he knocked me over in the hallway."

This caused the group to laugh and Neville to blush, "I said I was worry."

Anthony patted the boy on the back, "What a tactic to get a girl's attention. Bold strategy Longbottom."

This led to another round of laughter, and Susan continued, "So he helped me up and apologized, and we started talking about a herbology project that was coming up, and I asked him for some help. That night we met in the library, and one thing led to the next, and he asked me to the Ball that night. I was surprised, but ecstatic so I quickly accepted."

Ernie McMillan patted the boy on the shoulder roughly, "Good job Longbottom, didn't know you had it in you."

Harry smugly said, "Just wait. You think he's got it now, when he grows into his magic a little bit more, I will turn him in a monster of a duelist, which is going to make that confidence of his legendary. Hogwarts better watch out when I finish with him. He is going to be a walking ball of confidence with the skill and grace to back it up."

Neville raised his glass to the boy once again and the girls looked interested at the boy, while the other boys looked somewhat jealous. Harry however just contently put his arm nonchalantly behind Daphne. The girl immediately took notice but said nothing.

They all then took turns quizzing each other on how they ended up with their dates to the Yule Ball until it ended up on Harry and Daphne. Hannah was the one brave enough to pose the question, "So Harry how did you manage to ask Daphne to the ball?"

Harry grinned at the group, "Unfortunately it was not as romantic as it could have been. Had I known that she would say yes, I may have tried to make a spectacle, but instead we had just finished up our dueling training, and I asked her. I told her before I did though that it was difficult choice for me, mostly because whoever I took will likely be put in the spotlight in the Daily Prophet, and I had to make sure that the Pureblood Elitist weren't going to strike against my date. So, Daphne was perfect for me."

Daphne smiled at the boy patting him on the cheek, "In your defense you did say I was a perfect match for you."

The girls cooed at this, and the boys rolled their eyes while Harry merely smiled. Susan then asked, "Are the girls of Hogwarts going to be disappointed that the Ice Queen of Slytherin has stolen the heart and arm of Britain's most eligible bachelor?"

Neville laughed, "You sound like one of those daily prophet reporters."

Harry however saved the girl from the question by saying, "Let's take it one night and date at a time before we make any calls like that. I am very much looking forward to the Yule Ball, but until we see how that goes, I don't think either of us could comment on that."

Daphne gave the boy a grateful look, and Susan held her hands up in surrender, "I was just curious myself, because I know some of the older Hufflepuff girls are planning to make a play at you, before it's too late."

Smoothly and quickly Harry responded, "And they will be shut down until Daphne and I have had our night in the spot light, and I would appreciate it if you passed that onto them."

Hannah whistled, while Daphne looked at the boy in a new appreciation, "I didn't realize you held such loyalty Harry. You could have been in our house with that attitude."

Shaking his head, "I only hold loyalty to people I trust. I am far to distrusting of the world to be in Hufflepuff."

Daphne taking a shot of revenge at Susan said, "Thank Merlin too I never would have heard the end of it from my house or my family if I had taken a Hufflepuff to the ball, Harry Potter or not. No offense of course."

The offense was there though, and Harry just grinned at the predatory look on Daphne's face proving her cunning that placed her in Slytherin. The naive Hufflepuffs however just waved it off and perhaps totally mistook the implied insult.

The drinks kept coming though and the group was getting a little rowdy, and Daphne had probably had a bit too much, when Harry decided it was time to go back to the castle for the night. The sun had already gone down when the group decided to head back, and it was pitch dark outside with some left-over stragglers heading back towards the castle before the curfew was up on the Hogsmeade visit.

Harry was feeling slightly paranoid by the night time quiet atmosphere. It felt unnaturally quiet. He had not had as much to drink as everyone else, and his tolerance was much higher due to his metabolism, so he knew he wasn't just freaking out. He closed the distance between himself and Daphne as subtly as he could and said nothing.

Daphne noticed the boy do this, and thought that he was trying to be smooth, and in her slightly inebriated state she gently grabbed his hand offering him a slight smile.

Harry offered her a slightly forced smile back and let out a sigh of relief when he could see the carriages up ahead that would take them back to the castle. However, his relief was short lived when a putrid smell entered the atmosphere. He instantly stopped, and took a deep breath letting his senses fill with the danger they were now in. He pulled his wand out and whirled around, to face the darkness, but nothing was there.

Neville noticed the boy stop suddenly, while Daphne was confused, "Harry what's going on? What's wrong?"

Harry looked dangerously towards the nearby tree line spitting out, "Stay behind me. They are here."

A brief memory passed through Daphne's voice at the sound of his voice taking such a commanding tone, and another piece of the puzzle fell together in her mind forming a picture she didn't understand how she missed before. Now the whole group had stopped and saw that the young man was facing the nearby tree line with his wand drawn, and they all shuffled uneasily, what did he see? Daphne was just about to step forward and place a hand on his shoulder, when Harry shouted, "Get back!"

"PROTEGO TOTALUM!"

A massive shield erupted in front of the group and half a dozen creatures smashed into it hard and jumped back. The lead figure was clad in all black and screeched at Harry in a very high-pitched sound, "Monsieur Potter we meet again."

Harry looked at the man no the creature in anticipation, "Yes and for the last time I fear for you Cadmus. You are going to pay for the lives you took in Paris."

The humanoid creature laughed, "Perhaps, but not tonight."

Harry growled, "Care to introduce me to your friends. I recognize your second in command. Simone, I think it was you I sensed first. Your foul stench goes for miles."

The second creature was a darker humanoid that stepped slightly into moonlight baring its fangs at Harry, "Potter. It seems that the dark one has drawn all sorts of magical anomalies to Britain on this night. I trust that is why you are here."

The group gasped at the sight of the fangs, and Daphne said quietly, "They are Vampires, creatures of the night."

Harry nodded, "Cadmus is the butcher of Paris, and Simone is his second in command, the other four I am assuming are just a couple of other shit heads that came to bite off more than they could chew. We met when I was on vacation with Sirius just over a year ago. Sirius saved my life that night, but I don't need his protection tonight, not this time. Run go get help."

Some of the group did so instantly, but Neville and Daphne looked at the boy with uncertainty, but he barked out, "Go I can't hold this shield forever. The time for a fight is coming near, and I won't be able to hold all of them forever."

Cadmus laughed in a screechy voice, "You won't be able to hold us at all once your shield falls Monsieur."

Harry stared hatefully at the creature, "We will see. Daphne, Neville go. You staying here will just get me killed. I can't protect all three of us."

Finally, at this Neville looked angry, but knew what had to be done, and grabbed Daphne to pull her away. After a moment Harry looked at the lead vampire, "Why are you here? You had to have known that you may kill me, but it would cost you your life, and possibly your friends as well, yet here you are with only six followers. I don't understand."

Simone cackled, "You are so transfixed on your self-importance that you think we are here to kill you. No that is not this night. We could have attacked much faster, and in much larger numbers. We are merely an envoy of messengers."

Harry laughed at this, "Whose bitch are you now Cadmus? Looking to find the Dark Wanker to realign your forces?"

The Vampire growled, "Hold your tongue you insolent child. You should know that we will not willingly serve the Dark Lord as a first choice. No, we are actually hear to offer some assistance."

This caused Harry to freeze in motion, and the shield faltered a bit causing one of the Vampires to lunge at it, but as fast it slipped it was back in place causing the creature to ricochet off painfully, "Yeah you really look like you want to help me."

Cadmus shook his head, "Let's not lie to each other Potter. You could likely hold this shield for hours, and while we could try and fight you through it, the others will return with back up and we would be overwhelmed in moments. We are here on peaceful terms, but that doesn't mean if I or one of my brethren had managed to sneak up on you, we wouldn't have just killed you right then and there. It would make our lives so much simpler as a matter of fact."

Harry rolled his eyes, "That makes me really want to trust this message you have come to deliver.

Simone spoke quietly to Cadmus for a moment when the head Vampire then shook his head, "There have been rumors on the continent of your growing power, and the power of a Dark Lord returning to these lands, with power that has never been seen before. As creatures of Dark Magic, we have been drawn to the beacon of light, and we won't be the only ones. I know our mutual enemy has already crossed back into Britain and begun recruiting."

Harry stared at the man with wide eyes, "Greyback."

All six Vampires hissed at his name, but Simone spoke fiercely, "The Dark One's greatest followers are on the move, and we are here to witness the darkest magic performed in recent history. We hope this is unsuccessful for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean we will stop it."

Cadmus spoke calmly at this point, "We rely on you to stop the Dark One's rising. For make no mistake he is near returning to his full power, and more power than he ever could have originally imagined."

Voldemort? More powerful than ever? That didn't sound good Harry thought, "What do you get out of this?"

Another Vampire stepped forward speaking smoothly, "We get peace. If the Dark One returns, we will be forced to bow or die. We may placate him by fighting on his side for a while, but once it's over we will be forced to bow, and we will not bow. Even those on the continents who have the numbers to give this mad man a fight will not fight back until it is too late."

Harry stared at the creature and sensed an ancient power that he had never felt before, "I don't believe we've met."

"And tonight, is not the night for introductions. Young one, finish this, and get back. The headmaster approaches." The oldest vampire said and him and three of six disappeared. Leaving only Simone and Cadmus to talk with Harry.

"We will meet again Harry Potter, and next time we will do battle." Cadmus said.

Harry glared, "I look forward to it, let's make its a one on one date, or two on one if you allow me to kill your boyfriend at the same time."

Simone laughed which sounded terrible, "Just watch yourself child. Things are not as they seem even in the castle that you currently call home. Until next time prophesied one."

At this spells came flying over Harry's head, and the headmaster and a few others in Ministry uniforms were there finally allowing Harry to drop his shield. Sirius was among the group and was the first to his Godson, "Harry! Thank Merlin."

The man at once hugged his Godson while Harry spoke, "Cadmus and Simone they have come to Britain."

Sirius separated with the boy quickly having not seen his would-be attackers, "The Vampires we faced in France? That doesn't make sense why would they come here?"

Dumbledore gracefully came into the conversation, "We must get everyone back to the castle, but I too would very much like to hear the answer to that question."

With that Harry nodded, and quickly followed the others back to the castle, where Dumbledore sealed the front door shut, "Vampires have not been this close to Hogwarts grounds since the end of the last war this is very troubling."

Sirius quickly turned to his Godson, "What did they want?"

Before he could answer Daphne had seen Harry and ran over to him quickly pulling him into a tight hug, "Oh thank Merlin you are okay I was so worried. I didn't want to leave you."

Neville quickly followed behind pulling the boy into a hug, while Harry assured them, "I am okay, and I could have held that shield for a while I just wanted you guys to get clear in case there were more. I had it all under control, but I didn't want to take unnecessary risk."

The two teenagers did not look pleased to have been pushed out of danger so quickly when their friend was risking his life for their safety, "Besides they were here for me. They wanted to deliver a message, but it wasn't as important or as news worthy as they thought it was."

Harry gave significant looks to Dumbledore and Sirius at this, while the other Ministry Aurors looked confused. Sirius being the leader of the squad decided to dismiss the group and ask them to take escort Neville and Daphne back to their common rooms, where the parties were forced to separate, while Harry looked apologetically at his friends.

When they were in private again Sirius and Dumbledore looked expectantly at Harry, "Someone needs to write a letter to mum and dad. They were here to warn me that Fenrir Greyback has returned to Britain, and that a number of dark creatures would be following due to the fact that the Dark Lord was once again rising."

This caused Sirius to pale, and Dumbledore to pale, "It is as I feared then."

Harry nodded, "As we all feared, but I fear it gets worse. Apparently, Cadmus is under the impression that when Voldemort returns, he will be more powerful than ever before. He did not say how he came across this information, but the fact that they approached me so haphazardly tells me that something is not right. Had they attacked in larger numbers I would have been overwhelmed in less than a minute."

Sirius countered quickly with, "Yes, but you would have also had a moment longer to prepare. How close was it?"

"Way to close. I barely got the shield up. I smelt their flesh first, but I was surprised that they were in Britain and this far north I almost thought I was being paranoid."

Dumbledore shook his head gravely, "This is most troubling. I fear that we all have much thinking to do, and I suggest you get some rest Mr. Potter, and try not to focus on such dark matters. The Yule Ball is in a few days, and we will address the new situation as new problems arise after the new year. Until then I advise not to let these things linger for too long in your mind."

Harry gave the man a slight bow of acknowledgment, "I find your terms agreeable and wise Headmaster, I think I will just return to bed."

The Headmaster nodded to the boy wishing him a goodnight, while Harry hugged his Godfather again, and wished him a goodnight. He went straight back to his common room that night, and as soon as his butt touched down in the chair in his room, he took a deep breath, and then pulled out a piece of parchment, he had a letter to write.

 **(A/N) Did not feel this was my best work, but I think it takes off and gets better from here! Tell me what you guys are thinking of the new story so far? Also, I think I am working on my final fanfiction, it is an attempt I have wanted to make for a long time, and its going to be a time travel FanFic. The Potter Alliance is finishing up, and I have already written most of this story, so I am about to adventure into my longest, and hopefully best work yet. There is a poll on my profile, I would love to get some input from you guys! Cheers, and let's finish strong.**


	8. A Line in the Sand

**Chapter 8**

The nights leading to the Yule Ball had been subdued after the Vampire attack on Harry in Hogsmeade. It had gotten around the school like wildfire that he had held six of them off for so long and had gotten some odd glances from the other champions of the tournament. Fleur Delacour had even approached the young man and told him of her distaste for the creatures, and that it was unfortunate they had not been at Hogsmeade together to take down the Butcher of Paris. Harry agreed with the girl easily that had her fire abilities been there while he kept the shields up it would have been a slaughter. Harry later on even realized that the girl had underhandedly insulted Daphne that she wasn't powerful enough to be with him, and he needed someone with perhaps more magical gifts at his side. Not that Harry bothered to listen to the girl.

It was the night of the Yule Ball however, and Harry was in the head boy quarters for Ravenclaw fixing his hair and looking over some notes for his Animagus transformation. He was easily ready to take the potion when he went home and thought it very possible that he could be ready to be an Animagus in just a few short months if things kept going his way. He knew he was something predatory, because every time he connected with his animal side, he felt more dangerous, and aggressive, but he was unsure just what his animal side was and hoped that the potion would answer his questions.

He looked at his dark blue dress robes that matched his house colors and smiled as the mirror complimented how dashing he looked. Thankfully he also didn't quite have the Potter Family curse and his hair was fairly short and controllable to the point that he was able to spike it with ease and make it look presentable. He definitely looked more like his birth mother tonight with his green eyes in the mirror and was glad that Pernelle was not here to fuss over him tonight no matter how much he truthfully missed the women.

It was however 6:30 and time to go meet his date in the great hall, and get the night started. Going through the common room he gave many of the people he was friendly with smiles, greetings, and compliments as he quickly dismissed himself from the common room to get to his date.

The walk through the castle was pleasant. Lots of happy greetings from happy couples meeting outside of their common rooms or at different areas throughout the castle was spotted as he descended the staircase. It was also noted that the Christmas Decorations by the professors and older students were spectacular, and he greatly admired the beauty of the castle this time of year.

Arriving at the great hall many people were milling about, but thankfully for Harry the champions were all near the entrance to the hall, and with no site of Daphne just yet he greeted his fellow champions, "Mademoiselle Delacour, you look absolutely stunning. Mr. Diggory, Mr. Krum you both look sharp gentleman and your dates lovely."

Cedric was with a pretty girl from Ravenclaw house that Harry only briefly recognized as Cho Chang, while Viktor Krum was with a younger looking girl that Harry recognized from Neville's house and one of his best friends, but her name escaped him. Whoever she was Krum was making a bold statement by taking that young of a student, and if he wasn't mistaken a muggleborn.

Fleur being the first to respond to the youngest champion said, "Monsieur Potter you look dashing as well, where is your date? I thought it would be unbecoming of a Pureblood Heiress in Britain to be late."

Before Harry could retort a soft voice came from behind him, "I don't believe I am late until the first dance begins."

Harry turned around and lost his ability to speak momentarily. Daphne was wearing a dark blue dress with silver jewelry on her wrist and neck along with a beautiful green emerald at the base of her necklace that hung tantalizingly close to her breast line. The dress itself was barely mid-thigh, and hugged Daphne to the bone where it left little to Harry's imagination just how good her physique was, "My lady I am at a loss for words. I am not sure I have a word for how you look tonight." Harry said taking the girls hand and kissing it gently.

Daphne smiled brightly at the boy, "I am glad you approve. You clean up very well yourself, and I am sure I will have to be claiming you throughout the night."

Shaking his head however, "You have no competition tonight my lady. You look breath taking."

Finally drawing a small blush Daphne greeted the champions, "Hello Granger, I did not expect to see you out on the floor with us for the first dance."

Hermione gave the girl a slight smile, "Even on Christmas you can't call me by first name can you Daphne, but yes Viktor asked me to be his date just after the first task, but I didn't want to throw it around for the masses to claw at either of us for his choice."

Viktor put a hand on the girl's hip innocently, "Yes Herm-io-ninny was very kind to me, and vasn't like the other vultures. In fact, I think it vas I who annoyed her in the library for the first few veeks."

The girl blushed, while Harry chuckled, and Daphne grinned at the girl, giving Cedric a chance to speak, "Harry, my father will be here at the champions table with a few other representatives of the Ministry, would you please sit near him, I think he would love to have your ear for a few minutes."

Easily agreeing to the boy's inquiry Harry said, "As long as it's not politics all night, I would hate for my date to get bored with me."

Harry smoothly took the girls hand at that, and she smiled at him and Cedric just laughed, "He is still tactful, and fearful of getting on your bad side, I don't think you have anything to worry about tonight."

Cho was the next to speak asking, "Harry, I guess we have all heard about your skills with a wand on the dueling circuit are you any good at Quidditch?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders at this question, "I am not sure honestly. I have played a few pickup games over the years, and I am a pretty fair flier, but I haven't played any legit matches of Quidditch. I have played chaser with my friends and keeper though for fun in America, so I do enjoy the game. I was even at the Quidditch World Cup."

At this Daphne squeezed his hand, and he looked at her to see that she was giving him a very curious look, but she said nothing as Cho said, "Oh that's too bad. Cedric and I are both seekers for our house teams, and there has been some talk of playing a few pickup games after the second task when it warms up. Thought we would invite you to play with us or keep you in the loop if you were interested."

"Sure, I'd love to play more." Harry said honestly turning to his date, "Do you like to fly Daphne I don't think I have ever asked you?"

Daphne gave the boy a predatory look, "I fly from time to time. Nothing spectacular, besides no females are allowed on the Slytherin Quidditch team as long as our current leadership is in charge."

Cho looked outraged, "I have never heard of that rule."

"It's not a rule of the house just a rule among the Slytherin Captain's. There hasn't been a female Slytherin player in quite some time, perhaps since my mother was in school." Daphne said honestly.

Harry looked at the girl with a suspicious look on his face, "Something tells me you do more than fly from time to time."

Daphne just shrugged and winked at the boy, "I think we will find out in the spring. Please keep me updated too Cho as the pickup games are deciding teams. I don't mind trying out for some fun."

This caused the girls to giggle a little, and Harry smiled at the site. Then the Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor McGonagall came over to the champions, "Are the champions ready to enter the hall? You were all told of course that you must complete the first dance of course after dinner?"

Harry deciding to play a small prank on the old professor he said, "What we have to dance first? No one told me that."

The professor looked at the boy immediately suspicious, "Mr. Potter while I know your father very much enjoyed his pranks in his school days, I assure you that I know every trick in the book thanks to his friends and himself."

Harry looked at the women with a smile, "Is that a challenge I hear professor?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "It's always a challenge to you Potter's dare I say...We are ready for you to enter the hall in just a moment we are just getting the stragglers in and when the doors open you may enter. Potter you lead the way as the youngest champion and the champion in first place."

Acknowledgment came from each of the champions, and the professor walked away. Daphne whispered into his ear quietly, "You merely laughed when I asked if you knew how to dance last time, and I hope you aren't about to embarrass me are you?"

Giving the girl a slight push with his shoulder, "Have I let you down yet? Just try and keep up out there okay?"

This brought out the inner competition in the girl, and she merely huffed at the boy a bit in defeat. When the doors open Harry led the group into the ball to applause. It was something that Harry was fairly used too, but he could tell his date was going with it and glowing at his side. Harry thought to himself that there was no reason the girl shouldn't be confident with the way she looked tonight. She looked every bit the Pureblood Princess.

When they reached the table and took their seats the rest of the hall took theirs, and Dumbledore stood to speak. "I know we are all hungry tonight, so I will make this quick. First, I would like to thank our guest from Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, and House Potter for attending this tournament and making the spirit of International Cooperation so beautiful in those so young. I would also like to thank each champion for their bravery, and their sacrifice for entering this tournament by choice or not. Finally, I would like to thank each student who has befriended students from the other schools or perhaps even those who took a chance and brought a student from another school tonight to the ball. Your leadership and bravery are what this tournament is all about. I wish to say much more, but tonight is not the night, so I will only share two more words. Tuck in."

Applause went through the hall briefly as Dumbledore grabbed his menu and then spoke to his plate, "Pork Chops."

As soon as he said this food appeared, and Harry grabbed his menu, and did the same, with the rest of the hall quickly following suit and inviting light chatter to enter the room. Harry happily grabbed his fork and knife and remembered his manners as he began snacking on his baked chicken and watched Daphne nibble at some type of fish she ordered on the menu.

At the table was each of the champions, and their dates, along with each of the respective headmasters, and high mistresses, and then there were several ministry officials, two of which Harry was sitting in front of, Amos Diggory, and Amelia Bones, the second of which he recognized from the papers. There was after all a very scandalous article about her about a year ago about her being a witch's witch.

Once the chatter started at the table however Harry was quickly taken in by Amos Diggory, "So Harry my boy, what do you think of Hogwarts so far?"

Harry finished chewing his food, and spoke cordially, "I love it so far. I wish I had my Godfather here with me more, so he could put a place to some of the stories I have heard, but it's nice being in the place I know my birth parents fell in love. Also, I know my ancestors have walked these halls for centuries so it's a piece of my own history right before my eyes."

Daphne spoke, "You actually aren't the first Potter to compete in a Tri-Wizard Tournament Harry. You had a cousin in the Potter family a few centuries ago to compete. He didn't win, but he did go on to invent the wand holster."

Harry looked at the girl in surprise, "I didn't know you knew much on my family history outside of the basics."

Amelia Bones spoke gently to the boy, "The Potter's have always been a very private family, and anything that may be known about your family and some of their accomplishments is very well publicized as the Potter family has produced many fine witches and wizards. Including several heads of my own department, and two Headmasters, and-"

"A Minister of Magic." Harry said finishing for her, "The Flamel's have been long time friends with the Black and Potter families so I am quite familiar with the history as well. However, I did not know my cousin Fleamont was a Tri-Wizard Champion, he was the one who invented the Auror Grade Wand Holster."

Daphne smiled at the boy, "Before I met you, and thought that I might have a shot at dueling professionally I always aspired to be a Historian for the magical community, and perhaps one day replace Professor Binns. He is after all just a ghost never learning of how the politics of the modern age unfold, and modern events. I think it would do Hogwarts some justice to one day replace the ghost."

Harry raised his glass towards her a bit, "I think you would make a great teacher Daphne."

"I still have a lot to learn from you though in terms of teaching and dueling, so hopefully we will grow together." She said clicking her glass with his and sharing a beautiful smile.

Amelia Bones said, "You too make a lovely couple."

Neither bothered to correct the woman this time and Harry thought if this night kept going their way that they would indeed be a couple by the end of the night. Amos pushed to speak further, "So thoughts of staying in Britain after the tournament?"

Harry shrugged, "Well perhaps. I do enjoy getting a public education a little, but I will admit the classes are not very engaging for the level that my parents prepared me for, so I am unsure. I will probably let the Summer play its course and decide in the fall. I will of course be training all Summer preparing to defend my title on the U17 circuit, and as soon as I turn 16 I will enter the fray on the professional circuit, and see how it goes, so I am unsure honestly. I think I am unsafe here in Britain, but then again being who I am and what I represent to our world whether I like it or not that puts me in and my loved ones in danger constantly."

Amelia Bones eyed him at this, "What do you know of your involvement in the tournament?"

"Nothing other than that someone put my name in. I certainly didn't, and most people didn't even know where I was existing or even if I actually had magic, so I am unsure of what to think. No one has approached me to make me think a fan or a friend has put me in this tournament, which makes me think it definitely has more sinister intentions. After all the first task could have proved to be a very deadly one, and no friend would put their friend up against a Hungarian Horntail."

Amos nodded to this, "Aye that I think we can all agree on. You made a bunch of people very nervous that day, with the dragon threatening to eat you, and the ease that you handled it."

Daphne stepped to Harry's side at this, "Harry is a very powerful young wizard, and to fight for his life he was willing to do anything and perform any magic to get out of it. I am just grateful that his only concern was not killing the dragon when he entered the arena."

Harry squeezed the girl's hand as she defended him, and she only briefly gave him eye contact while Amos chuckled, "Of course. You managed to beat out Witches and Wizards three years your senior so that is quite a feat. I hope you will consider making your home in Britain once again I think the country would be lucky to have you."

Amelia Bones trying to save the two teenagers said, "I am sure he will do great things Amos, now let the boy enjoy his date and mentally prepare for the first dance."

As if on command the deserts came out, and Dumbledore said, "Deserts and then the traditional champions dance. Everyone enjoy the evening and let us prepare for a long night of fun."

With that many people looked excited and the chatter in the hall rose as desert was quickly conquered. Before Harry knew it, Daphne was dragging him by the hand to the dance floor, where Harry put a hand on her hip, and took her other hand. He looked straight into her blue eyes and said, "It's time to dance the night away my lady."

With that the girl smiled and the music began. Harry quickly proved to be a capable dancing partner by taking the lead and gently guided her around the dance floor to the steady music with near flawless execution. Daphne's eyes widened as Harry twirled her across the floor, and easily retook control of the dance and continued moving them around in and out of the way of the other champions.

The dance was a whirlwind, and at the center was Harry and Daphne. Grace, control, and fluidity. If people looked upon them, they would think they had danced many times before, but this being there first dance ever together would shock everyone. Even Harry was surprised at how fluid they were together. He was an experienced dancer and knew that with every new partnership there would be mistakes due to awkwardness, size difference, and knee clashing, but not them they were as close to perfect as it can get.

When the dance ended Harry led the girl's hand to his lips and kissed it gently and then kissed her on the cheek, "You dance well."

Daphne was almost breath taken by Harry's skill however and said, "You were exceptional though."

"It's all in the partnerships my lady." Harry said slowly taking the girl off the dance floor for a quick break.

When they got to the side Harry was about to offer to get her a drink when Hermione came over with Krum, "That was fantastic. You two were great! How long have you been practicing together?"

Daphne smiled at the girl lightly, but clearly slightly confused, "That was actually our first dance together. Believe me I am surprised too. I am a good dancer, but Harry was clearly out of my league."

Harry shook his head, "I disagree. No matter how good of a dancer I am, a dance cannot be executed that well with only one skilled partner."

Krum even offered words, "A partnership requires two. You were both very good. You nearly distracted both Hermione and myself a few times."

The two blushed at this, but took the praise and Harry gave the two quick parting comments as he guided Daphne over to get a quick drink. Before the two knew it however they were back on the floor dancing again, and again, and again.

When the next break came around Daphne was breathless, and her feet were slightly hurting as the dancing had become more upbeat and rowdier. They took a seat at a nearby table and talked quietly, "I am having a lot of fun tonight Harry thank you for inviting me."

Harry patted the girl's hand gently, "Thank you for coming with me. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun outside of a duel."

Daphne rewarded the boys' comment with a bright smile, "Good."

As the night went on Harry and Daphne both exchanged partners a few times as Harry danced with Fleur, and Daphne danced with Harry's housemate and Fleur's date Roger Davies. Harry also danced with Cho Chang, Susan Bones, and Hermione Granger whom was Viktor Krum's date.

The night was starting to wind down and the hall was slowly starting to empty as Harry and Daphne were sharing a drink and light conversation when a new presence took both of their attentions, "Ah Harry Potter. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

Harry turned his shoulder to see Draco Malfoy and a pretty fair skinned girl on his arm. The blonde boy was wearing immaculate dress robes that clearly spoke of his family's wealth and Harry spoke, "Draco Malfoy correct? I have not had the pleasure of meeting anyone from your family since my return to Britain. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Potter. Listen do you think we could have a moment to speak privately." Draco asked calmly.

At this his date asked Daphne if she would come with her to freshen up a bit, and Daphne didn't have much of a choice, but to agree and followed the girl out placing a soft hand on Harry's shoulder as she walked away, "She is beautiful isn't she."

The comment caught Harry by surprise, but he merely nodded, "Yes she is the Lady of the Ball tonight. I was lucky to have her on my arm. Now what is it you wished to speak with me about Heir Malfoy."

Draco straightened up at the use of his proper title, and immediately new the rumors of his Pureblood manners and traditions were not unfounded, "I wish to merely break bread with you as a returning future British Lord from the continent. Our families have both flip flopped sides of the politics from generation to generation, but each time the Malfoy and the Potters were on the same side they seemed to dominate."

Harry nodded his consent to the boy after all it was Charlus Potter and Abe Malfoy that pushed for the stop of Grindelwald at the end of the First Great Wizarding War, "There is no doubt about that and throw in the Longbottom's and I would say our families have performed some pretty major political blockades in the pass. I suppose the question is do we align in this one?"

Malfoy not losing a step smiled, "That is exactly what I wished to find out. You seem to have excellent taste so far. Longbottom is clearly a powerhouse in disguise, and he is your best mate from what I have heard and having Greengrass on your arm tonight certainly paints a good light on you to me as far as the company you keep. Now how about some quick political questions. Where do you stand on Muggleborns?"

Harry shrugged thinking honestly, "I have no problems with them. They definitely have a necessary role to play in our society, and I think if we did a better job educating the ones coming in on our customs here in Britain they would fit in much better. In America they start Muggleborns a year early that way they can get a full year of exposure to magic, and not learn hardly any spells, but all of our history, customs, and traditions. It is a very good idea that the American's have implemented over there at Ilvermony."

Draco reeled at this. He had never heard of such a custom, but indeed this would get rid of most of his problems he has had with Muggleborns in his life if they just weren't so ignorant of their ways, "I will admit you have me at a loss on that side of the topic, but I value your input on it, and would love to research how they implemented such a thing. How about magical creatures? The kinds of near human intelligence."

Half-Breeds was the word Malfoy was avoiding and Harry knew it, "I honestly have my biggest problems with Vampires. I share no love for their kind, because I have never met a kind one. Werewolves have given me many problems, but I also understand on both sides of those two coins that there are some good ones, and some bad ones. I think they need to be watched, and regulated, but still allowed to live as normal lives as their afflictions will allow them and that is the truth. Centaurs' and Giants have proven their distaste of our kind, but I don't think I have solution to that honestly."

Draco nodded very interested in the boy's politics, "Interesting. You have me intrigued. How about magic uses. Of all kinds."

Harry looked the boy in the eye when he said, "You aren't talking to some Gryffindor who was raised to believe the light was run boy Gods Heir Malfoy. There are very little things in the books that I would consider real dark magic. I see all magic as power, and those who are brave enough to pursue it. However, I also believe that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely with or without magic."

"Very interesting. I must admit you are much more than I hoped for." Draco said smiling at the boy.

Harry shrugged, "I have had plenty of time to form my opinions outside of the biased Wizarding Britain, and both my parents are very neutral on political matters which allowed me to form my own opinion."

"I can definitely respect that." Draco said. The two said nothing for a moment then Draco said, "I think we would make good allies Potter. I would love to discuss more politics with you sometime."

This time Harry surprised the boy, "I wish I could say the same Heir Malfoy. However, I know where your family's allegiance lies, and when the next war comes about I see us ending up on different sides. Let me say though that if we can avoid each other on the tides of the battlefield when it's all over, and I become the boy who vanquished we may be allies yet."

Draco looked at the boy strangely, "War? What are you talking about?"

Harry sighed, "Don't be naive Draco. The Dark Lord will return, and I will oppose him openly. Your father and by extension your family will be back to being on your knees at the foot of that monster."

Draco didn't notice that Harry had brought out his wand and placed privacy wards around them subtly and was already getting glances from Neville across the hall who Harry shook his head ever so slightly at him, while Draco said, "You have me at a disadvantage Potter. You seem to know something me nor my father know. The Dark Lord is dead, and you killed him."

Shaking his head Harry said, "Look I know your father was among the attackers at the World Cup. I saw him myself and dueled him. I recognize the wands that the Malfoy Family craft, and my Godfather recognized his dueling style from a mile away, but don't worry we could never prove it in court, or we would've already hauled him in on a dozen charges."

Draco paled at Harry's information, "I can't speak to that night, but I know IF my father had been a part of that it wasn't on the Dark Lords orders. It would've been more of a demonstration or a reminder not a call to arms."

Harry sensed the boy was telling the truth, and it made sense. AT the sign of the Dark Mark all the men had fled like chickens with their heads cut off. Some of what Draco said made sense, "Interesting. I believe you. However, do you deny if the Dark Lord was still out there that your family would join him."

"But he's not." Draco said.

"But what if he was." Harry all but shouted out, "I like you Draco. You have been polite and charismatic through our meeting, and I like to think we have been completely honest with each other so far, so let me give you some words of advice. The Dark Lord known as Voldemort is on the verge of returning and you can do with that information what you will. Your father will have seen some of the signs as well connected as he is. That means round two of the war our families left unfinished could fire back up before we even get out of school. I will oppose the Dark Lord or I will die trying, so my advice to you Draco is to keep your head down, because as long as I am alive there will be someone there fighting him, and if you think I am a powerful wizard now, just wait till you see what I do to my enemies. You can also tell your father that it was I that stopped him and three of his friends that night, and that I send Jugson my regards. Stay neutral and stay out of the upcoming conflicts Heir Malfoy, and just maybe when this war is over I will favor you with an alliance, and we can bring a golden age for our families, but if I ever see the mark on your arm, or your face on the opposite side of a battlefield we will forever be enemies."

At this both boys were standing, and Harry dispelled the privacy wards as their dates approached them. Draco's date was the first to speak of the tension, "Is everything good here boys?"

Harry offered his hand to Draco, "Of course. Heir Malfoy please consider what I said. I would love to work with you in the future if we can keep the terms agreeable."

The blonde-haired boy wanted to glare at him, but he recognized a warning, and even good advice when it was offered so he took the young champions hand, "Of course. Do you mind if I steal your date for a dance?"

Harry accepted easily knowing the two were house mates and asked, "Only if I may borrow yours."

The two gave each other slight bows, and Harry offered his hand to the pretty girl, "What's your name my lady? I am Harry Potter heir to my house."

"Pansy Parkinson, Heir of house Parkinson nice to meet you." The girl offered.

Dancing politely with the girl he asked a few polite questions to keep conversation light. He learned that Draco and herself were dating, even though it was possible that both could have marriage contracts leaning over their heads in the next few years, but they were both willing to have fun over the next few years together and take the chance. She was also fairly intelligent, and good at potions possibly if her talk in the subject was anything to go by.

Harry watched Daphne and Draco throughout the dance as the two kept impassive faces, but Daphne too was stealing glances at Harry, but hers seemed slightly confused, and perhaps even a little worried, but each time an emotion crossed her face it was gone in seconds.

At the end of the dance Harry kissed his partners hand, and wished her goodnight as they switched partners back, while Daphne said, "Can we speak outside for a minute?"

Harry nodded to the girl, and followed her out placing a small hand on her back, however as they were on their way out a boy got in their way, "Daphne may I have a dance?"

The boy was ruggedly handsome Harry supposed. He was clearly a Pureblood by the state of his robes, and his face was neatly trimmed, and he had a good-sized scar running down by his eye. Daphne however looked from Harry to the boy, and she said, "No thank you Theodore. I must speak with my date in private."

Taking her hand now Daphne recoiled and just about slapped the boy, but said, "I said no Theo."

Harry now stepped between the two making the boy let go of her hand, "Look I don't know who you are, but if you make for a grab at my date like that again we are going to have a problem."

In the flash of an eye, both boys had their wands drawn and pointed at each other. Theodore blinked. He had initiated the wand draw, but somehow Potter still had his wand pointed at him first, while he had also moved Daphne safely behind him for the second time.

Daphne hissed, "Have you lost your mind?"

Harry growled, "Good question. Drawing your wand on me shows the intent to duel, do you not who I am?"

The boy for only the briefest of seconds looked worried, but then it steeled over, and Harry grinned recognizing the signs of uncertainty, "I just wanted a dance. It didn't have to come to this."

Harry spoke threateningly, "Had my date wanted to dance with you I would not have had a problem with it. I haven't had any other problems with guys dancing with her, but you are forcing yourself on her, and making a grab like that doesn't really want me to let it happen. Now you definitely aren't dancing with her, and if you value the way your face looks now you will drop your wand, or I will drop you."

They now had the attention of what was left of the hall, and Harry felt a tug at his wand, but he threw up a shield thinking Theo had done something, but when the boy's wand left his hand and flew to the nearby hand of the Headmaster he was sure he just deflected wandless magic, "Mr. Potter if you would kindly lower your wand."

Harry inclined his head and began to lower it as Theo spat, "What only disarmed one of us? How is that fair?"

Dumbledore stood at his full height walking up to the two boys, "Mr. Nott as I see you instigated this problem it is you, I will ask to leave for the night and cool off. No detentions or house points necessarily taken off this is Christmas go get some rest and allow calmer heads to prevail. However, to answer your accusation I attempted to disarm Mr. Potter in the same way I did yourself, he however was ready to block it."

With that the man handed Theo back his wand, and the boy looked stunned that the young man before him had deflected one of his headmasters' spells. He then looked at Daphne with a glare, "This isn't over."

Harry immediately spat back, "You better hope it is. She doesn't need my help to wipe the floor with the likes of you."

Nott growled and took a step forward, but this time Professor Snape interfered, "Nott! Enough, return to your dormitory this minute. Go. NOW!"

The boy now looks terrified and began to scuttle out of the hall. Harry gave a slight nod to the Headmaster and the Potions Master, "We will take our leave as well. Sorry for souring the evening."

With that Harry gently took Daphne's hand again and stormed out of the hall.

 **(A/N) Alright so I think I am back on track with this story! If you haven't voted on the poll on my profile please do so, and please give me some feedback on how the story is going, and where you might like to see it go! Until next time!**


	9. How Men Are Made

**Chapter 9**

Before anyone else could stop him, he took his dates hand and led her out of the hall, and onto the grounds where he gently placed her hand on his arm and began walking in quiet tense silence. The snow that was on the ground was instantly cold however, and he pulled off his cloak and placed it around her with a wandless warming charm that covered her from nearly head to toe. He on the other hand was fuming mad at the situation and decided to just stay quiet and let the cold air calm him down.

It was only a few moments before Daphne spoke, "It seems my housemates ruined the night. Starting with Draco and leading up to Nott."

"What was his deal anyways?" Harry asked ready to go back and tear the boy to pieces.

Sighing the girl said, "He's had a crush on me for years, and when I came to Hogwarts there was a marriage contract between us, so we were cordial towards each other, but he made it clear pretty early on that I was just going to be a trophy wife. When I was thirteen my family came into a bit of money and bought my way out of it. So, all during my third and fourth year he has been trying to get with me, and claim me as his, but the boy is a just a Jr. Death Eater, and his father is just as bad. I want nothing to do with him."

A few moments passed where she didn't say anything, but then said, "And I think it is why I was attacked at the Quidditch World Cup."

Harry's head snapped up at this, and she continued, "But you already knew that part didn't you."

Harry looked at the girl like he was a dear in the headlights, "I don't...I don't...I shouldn't...I can't..."

"Harry stop!" Daphne shouted, "I know you know. I know you were there. I know you were the wizard wearing the bandanna during the cup. I think you have known for a while."

The boy looked pale and turned his back to her as if he was going to walk away, but she just pulled him in for a hug, "Don't do that Harry. Please. Had you not done what you did. Had you not stopped that man. No telling what he would have done."

Harry just closed his eyes, and for the first time in months he faced what he had done.

 _The night was fresh, and moon was bright. The partying across the area was phenomenal, and the Irish looked like they would party until the next World Cup came around. Harry was sitting back by the fire with Sirius just watching the spectacle and enjoying himself with a butter beer in his hand. Harry was doing the same having had just a few to enjoy himself and enjoy the rowdy crowd._

 _Sirius held his butter beer towards his Godson clicking it to his and taking a long swig and the silent cheers, "Had this been a few years ago I definitely would be in there with all these crazy people, and had your dad been here with me these old boys would have had to watch it, because we would've been the life of the party."_

 _Harry laughed as Sirius eyed some younger women walking past who giggled at his wink, but sighed and patted the boy on the shoulder, "But you're the young one now, and in just a few years you and I will be a team. A tag team of unstoppable wing men. I like it."_

 _Harry laughed at the man, "I can't wait!"_

 _Sirius smiled down finally feeling that the boy was old enough for him to actually connect too, "You know Pup, a day doesn't go by that I don't miss your mum and dad. There were a lot of days I thought I had lost it all, but then I would remember...I would remember a cry in the distance, or a fire call from Nicholas and Pernelle to tell me about the amazing accidental magic you would do, or when I watched you fly on a broom and I remembered...there is still a world out there. You were always that light for me Pup, thank you."_

 _Harry looked at the man surprised. He had never seen Sirius been so emotional, or so solemn. Harry just grinned at the man, "Now Padfoot don't you go soft on me. I love you and all, but if you cry, I will make fun of you."_

 _This caused the man to bark a laugh, and said, "You are more like your dad than you realize. Thank Merlin for that. It's like having a little piece of him with me. Always."_

 _Harry smiled at this and watched the craze once again with a bigger smile than before. Some louder than usual screams came from the distance though and some people cried them back, while others stopped and looked in the direction of the noise. Harry was one of those thinking that scream was a little too sharp to be excitement. Then a ball of fire hit a nearby tent, and now the screaming was intense and in all directions. Harry was on his feet in a Flash with his godfather at his side drawing his wand._

 _It was a stampede though. People were running and the people who were falling were getting trampled. It was mayhem. Sirius however grabbed onto his Godson but then swore, "Anti-Apparition wards. Try your portkey."_

" _It's in the tent!" Harry yelled back._

 _Sirius swore, and grabbed his Godson, "Come on we have to get out of here."_

 _The source of the mayhem was quickly approaching them. A group of a dozen or more wizards was marching in formation with their wands in the air flinging destruction around. A few pockets of resistance were breaking out, but they were quickly overwhelmed by numbers, and torture curses being thrown around like healing spells. Harry growled in anger at what has happening, but he did nothing to stop it._

 _As Sirius and Harry began to scurry away though spells were being thrown towards them and Harry stepped forward to intercept them, "PROTEGO TOTALUM!"_

 _A massive shield erupted in the middle of the battlefield giving lots of people time to escape and reprieve even from regular spell fire. Only the unforgivables were breaching, and torture curse was fizzling out against his basic ward scheme._

 _Harry took a deep breath and kept running. They were in the back of the crowd now though, and Harry was seeing muggles fly in the air. The people who had rented this giant space out to the Ministry were practically being tortured, but no one was doing a thing._

 _Harry wanted to stop them, but Sirius wasn't stopping. Soon however he saw something that made his heart surge in anger and spurred him into action. A young girl that looked to be around his age with blonde hair was being pushed around between three death eaters laughing, and Harry felt the desire to fight._

 _He stopped this time and Sirius came running at him before he could cast a spell and join the fray, "Have you lost your mind?"_

 _Harry shouted, "That girl needs our help."_

 _Sirius saw the girl, and quickly looked around seeing no help approaching, "Shit."_

 _Now it was clear to Harry that Sirius was looking for someone to take Harry, so he could help, but Harry quickly picked up some debris and transfigured it into two bandannas, "Put this on so they don't recognize us."_

 _Sirius looked around for a moment longer and heard the girl scream for help and swore as he put it on, "You follow my lead."_

 _Harry shook his head, "You are the auror, it will be easier to defend me, follow me and keep up."_

 _With this Harry put his wand above his head and like a blur he was on the move blasting two people at a time out of his way with both of his wands. The first two guys that were pushing the girl around were immediately thrown to the ground hard, and clearly hurting and the third guy took a blaster to the face so hard he fell to the floor screaming. The nearby Death Eaters quickly however noticed the problem and turned to Harry. Their problem was they expected to finish Harry in one spell, so they threw a couple of cruciatas curses, while Harry was a blur of ten plus spells hitting the group, and with Sirius defending him they closed shop against the men in seconds._

 _The last three Death Eaters however were prepared and ready to actually fight with the two men, and Sirius had squared off against two, while Harry had put himself in between the blonde girl who was on the ground and the Death Eater. The man was fast of that there was no doubt, but what he lacked was precision, and Harry was dodging and jinxing the man like the champion he was, and while the man may have been more powerful, Harry was definitely the better fighter._

 _In another moment it was over, and Harry surveyed the scene and quickly helped Sirius finish his fight with the element of surprise. Then they just looked over the destruction. They had easily taken down half a dozen death Eaters. Three by surprise and three by force. They had done well._

 _Sirius quickly came over to him, "Are you hit? Are you okay?"_

 _The girl on the other hand was wiping at her face, and trying to approach her saviors, "Hey! You guys-"_

 _Before she could finish her sentence a blinding blast of gray light went into the air and the Dark Mark exploded into the sky. Harry, Sirius, and the young girl all stared at the symbol in shock and looked to see where it had come from. While they weren't looking however a man was attempting to find his feet. He pointed his wand at the girl and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"_

 _A sickly green spell flew at the girl, and she was suddenly hit by a much different force, and before she knew it the man who had saved her earlier was standing in front of her heaving for breath. She had not seen what he had done, but Harry stared at the man in shock. An exploding hex in the face. The man did not survive that. Harry had just killed a man._

 _The girl stood slowly once again checking for any more attackers, but Sirius and the girl merely stared at the young man who was staring at the body. A minute passed, and all the girl could say was, "Thank you. You saved my life."_

 _The man never turned to face her, but shouts were coming from behind now, and Sirius ran up to the girl and the boy, "Sorry ma'am, but we have to leave now. The aurors are on their way, and it wouldn't look good if we were found here regardless of the situation. Run to those men as fast as you can. You are safe now."_

 _The girl looked puzzled, but she couldn't say anything further as he turned the boy to face him. For the briefest of moments, she caught a glimpse of eyes with a haunting shade of green, and sensed the smallest familiarity, but before she could question it the two men had apparated away._

Harry turned to face Daphne now knowing for sure it was her that he had saved. He never got that good of a look at her, but the blue eyes he remembered had definitely been hers. He just stared into her eyes for a moment before saying, "I did it to protect you. I didn't mean too. I was just reacting like I was taught. Don't stop casting until no one is standing. I never meant too..."

The boy had tears coming down his face, but Daphne quickly wiped them away, "You don't have to apologize Harry. IT was a battlefield and you did what you had to do to walk away from it alive. No one can blame you, and I certainly don't, but you can't keep hiding this from me or yourself. You have to face it. Do you regret saving me?"

Harry quickly shouted, "NO! I just wish...I just wish I hadn't used that curse. I wish I had used something more defensive, or more-"

"More what? School friendly? Harry that was a battlefield, and it was a complete war zone. Had you thrown any different spells at any point other than what was natural to you it is possible that none of us would have survived that." Daphne said seriously.

Sagging the boy nodded, "I know. I try to tell myself that every night, but it's hard knowing that I did what I did. I just can't believe it. At 14 I have taken a life and saved another."

Daphne nodded, "Why didn't you say anything? You knew it was me."

Shrugging his shoulders, "I didn't know for certainty, but Sirius seemed to think so. I had hoped it wasn't. I had hoped you hadn't seen me do that."

"You saved my life. I owe you a life debt." The girl said matter of factly sealing the magic.

"No. I refuse to recognize the life debt. If there is one between us it is absolved."

Both felt a slight change in their magics, and Daphne gasped knowing the boy had intentionally just let her out of her debt for nothing in return, "I can't believe you just did that."

"I didn't risk my life for you to throw it all away to something you may not want. If you still consider yourself at all in my debt then just remember to live, because otherwise I did what I did for nothing. I didn't want to tell you Daphne, because I didn't want you to think I was a monster."

The girl immediately surged forward and embraced him tightly for that, "I would never think that Harry. You are one of the kindest people I have ever met, and in a million years I don't think I could ever think of you as a monster even if you took a million lives. I just don't think I could conceive such thoughts against you like that. Not after the cup, and not after this term.

Giving the girl a slightly watery smile, he kissed the top of her head, "Thank you."

She separated from him a bit, and said, "Now that isn't the only thing. Malfoy knows you killed Jugson, and when he figured it out, he immediately pulled me aside to dance to talk about it. I don't think he understands the danger I was in, so I think he thought I might try and get away from you, but he was wrong, and it confirmed my thoughts for weeks. He also told me some other things..."

Harry's eyes widened slightly, "He must have been desperate to tell you that piece of information."

"So, it's true. You don't deny it." Daphne asked pale in the face.

Harry looked around for a moment and pulled out his wand and casted several privacy charms, and looked at the girl again, "What you have to understand is I only told Malfoy all that to keep him alive. I wanted him to know the cost of serving a monster, and I hoped to spare him by giving this news. It seems however that he was more interested in trying to take my immediate support away than anything else which was a bad decision. I can just claim non-sense to anyone who comes and asks."

"And me?" Daphne asked confused.

Harry looked at the girl for a moment, and motioned for her to sit down, and he sat next to her gently taking her hand, "Daphne I have really enjoyed my time tonight with you. Despite what revelations have come up, the Malfoy incident, and the Nott problem I have had a great time. So please don't think little of me for doing this."

Daphne didn't understand and was just about to ask what he was talking about when she was silenced with a hand on her cheek and lips meeting hers. Her eyes closed instantly, and she began reciprocating, and pushing into it. It was a beautiful kiss. The snow was soft on the ground, and none was falling. The clouds had passed, and moonlight was upon them. Both teens felt the magic between them, and this kiss had cemented it, and when they separated, they were both short for breath.

Harry sighed, "It is as I feared."

For a moment Daphne thought he meant he had no feelings for her, but continued, "Daphne if we are going to spend more time together, if you want to spend more time together then you have to know a few things about me before we go any further. If you don't want to go further though, and you think it would just be best if we remained friends, and just went back to dueling and training then that's fine, but I have to know, and honestly I have to know now."

The demand was sudden, and she was caught by surprise. She really would have liked some time to think about it. This was all happening very fast, and she didn't understand. Did he want a commitment? What was it he wanted? But then the thought of never being kissed boy the handsome green-eyed boy flooded her thoughts, and they did not make her happy. She felt so safe with him, and she felt such passion when he kissed her. She had only ever had a few kisses, but that was certainly the most magical, and she definitely wanted it again, and much more of it, "I don't understand? Do you want to go on a date? Do you want to a marriage contract? What are you looking for?"

Harry blushed realizing he may have gotten a bit ahead of himself, and that they weren't quite on the same page, "Daphne I would love to go on another date with you, and even maybe become a couple long before a marriage contract ever comes into the question, but if you are going to be seen at my side in this way then you have the right to know. Do you want to be seen at my side in this way, or would you rather it stays platonic, because I will honestly tell you that I have kissed a few girls, but it felt nothing like that? I really like you Daphne, but I don't want to put you in danger either by having you at my side and you not knowing, or by telling you and making you a target. You are safer knowing if you want to stand beside me, and that is the truth."

The girl considered his words carefully, "I would love to go out with you again Harry, but I don't understand. What is all this about danger? What is this about you-know-who?"

Harry decided to take a chance that night, and he told her everything. He told her about the prophesy, but not all of the words. He told her about his up-bringing, his training, his life before Hogwarts, and it was probably the most honest he had ever been in his life, but she had a right to know. She had a right to choose if she still wanted to be by his side.

Daphne looked at the boy at certain times with fear, and other times with sadness, and other times with great admiration and respect. This was a young man who knew what he wanted, and how he was going to get it, but there were some huge obstacles in the way, and it was hard to say if she could stand with him through it all, "What will you do if I decide to walk away?"

Harry stared at the girl looking hurt for a moment but said, "I will ask you to allow me to have a professional obliviate you. This is dangerous information, and if it were to ever become known that you know you would be in constant danger regardless of whose side you are on."

"Well I am on your side no matter what." Daphne said immediately surprising both herself and Harry.

"You are?" Harry asked questioningly.

"Of course. I hate what the man stands for, and violence he brings. He is cruel man, and has no humanity left in him. I could never fight or agree with that monster, but this is a lot Harry. You are so young, and you face a Titan of dark magic and power." Daphne said worriedly.

Harry nodded his head, "I know. It's why I train so hard. It's why I never give up. It's why I am the champion that I am. I will stop him. To me there is no doubt or choice. We will face each other one day, and only death will follow for one of us. I have prepared my whole life for it to be him, and I don't plan to be alone that day. I may be but if I have a choice, I will bring a hundred other wizards, but it will happen one day regardless. One day I will defeat him, and I hope you are by my side at that time, but I am realistic I know the odds. We are young, and a lot of things could change, and who knows where I will even be next fall, but if I can help it, I would love for you to be there, and I would love for us to be there together. Everything else can be answered with time, but if you think we have a shot, and you think we could have some fun together, and it can be worth it then I hope you will agree to be my girlfriend regardless of the consequences."

Daphne looked at the boy and understood he wasn't asking for a lifelong commitment, but he also didn't want to play games with her and get her killed. This was serious, and it was only because he really liked her that she got to know all this information, and that made her respect the boy even more, and want to help, "I want to be your girlfriend Harry, but if I am then we are a team. You get that right? Couples are a team. Even if we go on one date or a thousand as long as you are mine, and I am yours exclusively then we are a team against the world. You understand, that right?"

Harry nodded quickly, "Of course."

Daphne smiled, "Good then you know that we are going to train together, and make each other better, and not just for dueling, but for whatever is out there, and whatever we will have to face while we are together. Just please no lies, and don't try and keep information from me to keep me safe. If we are getting in this together then I need to tell my family. My sister has a right to know, and my father no matter what I may think of the man. I have chosen a side, and I can't do it blindly. Do you agree? No secrets, no lies?"

Harry offered the girl a serious look, "I promise. No secrets, no lies. As long as it has nothing to do with gifts or surprises."

The girl rolled her eyes, "I think I can live with that."

Harry nodded, "Then let's kiss on it."

With that he leaned in and she met him in the middle. The kiss sealed the promise and made their relationship official. They would face whatever the future had for the duo together for the foreseeable future, and tomorrow when they awoke, they would begin planning how to make that future as long as possible.

 **(A/N) So an answer and a scene to describe what happened at the World Cup. This chapter will lead up to the development of Harry and Daphne's relationship so please feel free to share thoughts or opinions on the matter. I just finished writing year 4 and the summer so if you have any ideas for year 5 please leave them in the reviews! Cheers!**


	10. A Formal Scheme

**Chapter 10**

The Christmas Holidays passed in a blur. Harry and Daphne both went home the next day but were both silent on their new-found relationships. It was clear to both parties that they wish to warn their families before it got out to the media, and since they were in absolute privacy last night no one would quite know for a fact where their relationship was.

Of course, the Daily Prophet had printed an article about how Daphne was doing the good work of Britain by enticing him to take up a permanent membership in his home country, which was actually kind of funny due to the fact that Rita Skeeter openly complimented Daphne was for using 'her power as a woman' to get her way. It was cute that Daphne was at her first flustered and even blushed a bit at the insinuation, but they all had a good laugh about it on the train ride home.

When arriving at Platform 9 and ¾, Sirius was waiting on Harry to arrive, and take him for a few days before he returned to the Flamel home to see his parents, "Hey Pup ready to go?"

Harry nodded at the man, and asked Daphne, "Where is your mum? I was going to say hello and introduce myself before we left. I also thought this would be a good time to meet your dad if he is going to be here."

Daphne looked around and found her sister already in the arms of her mother, and smiled, "I think it's just mother who will pick us up today. Dad usually can't get off work, but it is Christmas day... I am not sure."

The trio strolled over to the Greengrass women, and Harry had already bid his friends farewell, and a Merry Christmas for the rest of their holidays. When they reached the matron of the Greengrass family she embraced her oldest daughter tightly asking her how she was doing and how the ball went. Daphne blushed at thoughts of the question and her mother laughed, "That good huh? I can't wait to hear all about it. This must be the famous Harry Potter."

Harry smiled at the woman, "A pleasure Madame Greengrass. Daphne speaks very highly of you."

The women gave a dazzling smile that left no question of where Daphne got her beautiful smile from and said. "Please none of the formalities, my name is Kendra, we can save the rest of that madness for the Wizengamot. Are your plans busy for this holiday season? I know Cyrus and I would love to have you at the house to speak with you and get to know each other better."

Daphne looked surprised at the woman, but Harry wasn't it was very political, and quite a rational decision to bring him around to help improve relations between the family, "I would be honored Kendra thank you for the hospitable invitation."

Laughing lightly, she responded, "Oh Cyrus will just love you. Perfect manners. Come along girls it is time to go see you father. We will see you tomorrow then Harry. I hate to run off so fast, but Cyrus wants to see his girls, and he was unable to leave some of the company he had at the house."

At this Harry hoped that she meant Cyrus' family and not some of his more unsavory business associates. The thought of Daphne being in close quarters with dodgy men made Harry a little twitchy, however there was nothing that could be done at the moment. Harry swooped the girl into a tight hug and whispered, "Merry Christmas Daph, I will see you tomorrow."

She felt his hand slide into her jacket, and her eyes shot up wondering just what he was doing when she felt him withdraw but leave a slight weight in one of her pockets. She hid the surprise well and wished him a merry Christmas.

The trip home for Daphne was quick as they returned by portkey into the living room. Daphne was just about to go to her room, and find out what her new boyfriend had left her, but was stopped by her father entering the room, and Astoria being the daddy's girl that she was ran to embrace the man tightly and happily, which allowed Daphne to see a rare smile come upon the man's face, "It's good to see you my love. Did you have a good term?"

Astoria nodded happily and began rattling off all the things she had done, and all the magic she was performing. After a minute she finally stopped, and Daphne approached her father, and he gave her a tired smile, "You seem to have continued to rock the boat over your last term. Did you find you liked it after the Quidditch World Cup Fiasco?"

Daphne knew her father was trying to make a joke of the whole thing, but it was clear he wanted to know what was going on, "I think we both know I didn't, but some of what the prophet has been saying is true. Harry Potter did ask me to the ball at Hogwarts. He had been dueling with me over the past few weeks, and I was apparently a good training partner, and I learned a lot from him and his Coach Neville Longbottom. One evening he asked me, and I will admit the boy is very good company, so I agreed."

"And how was the ball?" Her mother asked.

"Wonderful. Harry is an immaculate dancer and wowed me at every step of the way. He was also a perfect gentleman which is more than I could have said about most of Slytherin house had I accepted one of their invitations."

Cyrus nodded, but Astoria spoke, "I snuck into the great hall last night, and they were perfect together. I think they were even better than you two?"

Cyrus and Kendra both raised their eyes at this. Not only were they good dancers, but they were experienced together quite extensively after 17 years of marriage, "Interesting."

The Greengrass Lord said looking at his daughter carefully, "What is the state of your current relationship with the boy?"

Daphne thought about telling the truth, but then realized that Harry had not done the traditional Pureblood thing for once, and if he was going to make a good impression of her father, then he would need to ask if he can court her. Thinking of the letter that she was going to need to write she decided to tell a little white lie for the next day or so, "We are still friends. We had a great time last night, but he did not seek to court me after. I am unsure as to why, but I think I will try to find out tomorrow before he leaves."

Cyrus nodded thoughtfully, "I think I would like to meet the boy."

Kendra added helpfully, "He was actually looking for you on the platform. I believe he hoped to meet you today."

Shaking his head slightly, "I had planned to be there until Theodore Nott arrived to have some words with me about last night."

Daphne looked sharply at the man, "What did he say?"

"He spoke disdainfully of your behavior last night towards his son. He understands that while you two are no longer in a marriage contract that he hopes that ties between our houses can still remain civil as the house of Nott and Greengrass have long such been friends. So, I ask you, why were you so rude to the boy, and even allowing your date to draw his wand on him? Surely there was a reason." Cyrus said a little accusingly.

"There was. He asked me to dance, and I refused politely saying that Harry and I needed a minute in private to talk as we were just coming from another situation with Heir Malfoy. That one was not nearly as confrontational, but it had reaching effects, so I wished to speak with him about it. When I refused Theodore grabbed my arm roughly, and Harry got in between us, and then NOTT drew his wand, and Harry was just faster. The way I have seen him train he is lucky he didn't get cursed. At this point Dumbledore came in and tried to disarm both boys, but he could not disarm Harry as he shielded the hex, but Nott lost his wand. That pretty much ended it there, but I didn't want to dance with that pig anyways he is vile and cruel." Daphne said hostilely.

The man sighed and put one of his hands on his temple slowly massaging it, "I asked to see a memory from Theodore Nott Senior, and I told him I would not offer any sort of punishment until I had seen it. If what you say is true then you did nothing wrong, but I still ask you to be careful when antagonizing the boy. They are still a very old family and allied with ours for nearly two centuries. Now what was this about the Malfoy Heir?"

Daphne explained how the boy subtly and tactfully got Harry alone to speak about politics while Pansy and herself went off to freshen up, and do brief girl talk that Daphne would rather have skipped. This made both parents smile knowing somethings would never change, and then listened as Daphne explained that she came back to a slightly heated Harry, and a disturbed looking Draco. The father then asked, "And you have no idea what the boys talked about?"

Swallowing slightly, she said, "I know..."

Kendra and Cyrus both looked at the girl warily, and Astoria seemed to be puzzled, "What is it Daphne?" Her mother asked calmly.

"It seems I had owed the Potter family a life debt. It was Harry who killed Jugson and saved my life at the Quidditch World Cup." Daphne said softly.

The two parents gasped, while Astoria looked in awe, Cyrus spoke, "That's not possible."

Daphne nodded, "It's true. I know it was him, and to be honest I think I have known for weeks, but I couldn't have sworn to it. It was an act of pure self-defense, but he did it to protect me. He says he wasn't positive that it was me he rescued since he never got a good look at me and was gone in pretty much seconds after defeating the Death Eaters with the help of his Godfather Sirius Black it was all a game of chance that they ended up so close to me in the skirmish."

"There is no such thing as chance. Fate maybe, but not chance." Cyrus said quietly.

No one said a word, and then the lord of the house spoke, "Well as per the old ways we owe him a left debt now, and we don't have the money or ability to get you out of this one Daphne. We will have to sign a marriage contract, and if he already has one a consort contract."

Daphne smiled at the man, which was the thing that surprised everyone in the room before she said, "Harry absolved the life debt. We are completely even. I felt the lift on my magic. He said no debt could ever be between us."

Now Cyrus was at a loss for words, "He could have done anything with that life debt. He could have basically made you his slave, but instead he lets you go completely. I don't understand."

Kendra gave her husband a smile, "I think we are seriously underestimating the boy, and possibly even his feelings for our daughter."

Daphne's cheeks colored at this a little but fought off any other reaction with enforced occlumency shields. The man stared at his oldest daughter for a few minutes, before saying, "I need to think on this. I may summon you to my office at some point today to discuss this further, but if not, I would like to speak with you and the boy tomorrow."

Daphne nodded in understanding and told her parents she was going to go put her stuff away, and then come down to open presents, and have dinner with her family. When she made it to her room, she took a deep breath that she hadn't realized she was holding in and reached into her coat pocket to find a small box inside. She quickly looked at the black velvet box and opened it curiously. What she found was a beautiful pair of ear rings that were emerald green. She quickly reached for the note after admiring the fine craftsmanship, " _Daphne. I had planned to give these to you on the night of the ball if you agreed to be my girlfriend, and I honestly got a little side tracked by all our conversations. I hope you will wear these and know that while you wear them you are a little safer. Merry Christmas Daph, Harry._

The girl was confused by the message, but then reexamined the jewelry, and quickly realized it was enchanted. She gasped at this and realized the emeralds were even pulsing slightly in the middle of the jewel and knew how ever Harry had done this it was incredible work, and probably incredibly expensive. She smiled easily and knew she had a letter to write to her boyfriend as soon as possible.

Harry had a great Christmas with his Godfather. They had hung out his flat above Diagon Alley and had a quiet day together with the Flamel's joining them for dinner, and fawning over Harry, and wanting to hear all about the dance.

He told Pernelle that he had blown away most of the castle with his dancing skills, and that Daphne was very appreciative of them. He even showed a memory to the group, and they were wowed how well the two worked together, and when asked if they had practiced together Harry admitted they had not, which drew knowing smiles from his parents. They briefly spoke of the Malfoy and Nott incident, and Sirius slightly chastised the boy for giving so much information to the Malfoy Heir, but Harry defended himself by saying that he had at least warned the boy and drawn the line in the sand. It didn't always have to friend or foe after all especially not in politics.

Nicholas had told Harry he would have his Animagus potion ready for him by the time he returned home in two short days, and that Pernelle wanted to give him some things to look over, and even more material to take back with too study, while they were learning that their son was not being academically challenged at all.

Sirius had inquired at the end of the night after the gifts were given, and his parents had left where Daphne and himself stood, and he was honest with his Godfather saying that they had begun courting each other, and that Harry asked her to be his girlfriend. Padfoot celebrated and demanded that they share a few shots of fire whiskey in celebration of his Godson's first real girlfriend. He did an entire extra shot just congratulating him and on how beautiful Daphne was, and that he had clearly inherited all of his Godfather's womanizing genes.

This caused Harry to laugh and enjoy the rest of the evening. It seems it was almost midnight when he went off to bed, and there was a letter and an owl waiting in the open window. Harry was unsure how the window was opened and wondered if Sirius had it charmed to accept post, but regardless he took the offered letter that was addressed to him and opened it, " _Harry. Thank you for your thoughtful gift I absolutely love it. I have so many questions about it, but I know they can wait. I would've waited to thank you tomorrow, but I thought I would warn you and also offer you a piece of advice. My father does not yet know we are dating. I thought it would be a better idea if you asked his permission to court me. He doesn't know that I have already consented, but I think it would look better for both of us since he does now wish to meet you tomorrow after all he has heard. You do not have to do this, but I think it could work in your favor if you do. My answer will not change either way, but I know you like to follow the rules with the Pureblood etiquette for the most part and wanted to offer you a chance. Let me know tomorrow one way or another, but once again Merry Christmas, Daphne._

Harry smiled at the girls thinking. He had completely over looked that custom to ask the father for permission to court his daughter and knew that Daphne had once again just made his life a bit easier. Deciding on his course of action he had a smile on his face when he laid down for bed and went to sleep.

The next day Harry and Sirius were already standing inside Greengrass Manor just outside the fireplace having come from the floo network. They had brought wine for the family, as a small gift, and it was an old bottle that had been gathering dust in the Black family winery, and Sirius figured it was probably worth a small fortune, so it would be a good gift.

Arriving they found Kendra and Daphne waiting for the two men, and they smiled at their entrance, "I hope you had a good Christmas Harry."

Kendra said embracing the boy lightly. Harry smiled at the women, "It didn't quite beat Christmas Eve, but it was very pleasant."

This caused the woman to smile knowingly but said nothing further as Daphne and Harry embraced tightly, Harry whispered into her ear, "I will do it."

When they separated, she was smiling, and nonchalantly pulled back her blonde hair so Harry could see she was wearing his present, which made him smile a little brighter.

Kendra spoke softly, "Before we spend the day together Harry, Cyrus would like to have a few words with you."

Harry nodded having been forewarned of this, "Lead the way then. I have been wanting to meet Lord Greengrass for some time now."

The women nodded, and led the group to the man's study, where he was waiting patiently with a newspaper in is hand, "Ah Heir Potter. Welcome to Greengrass Manor."

"Thank you for having me Lord Greengrass. I understand you wished to speak with me?"

"Ah yes, nothing to serious not to worry." The man said easily.

Sirius of course couldn't resist, "That is good, because I am too much for normal conversation. Unless I am needed for this, I think I will take a walk around the grounds I have always loved exploring new places."

Harry glared at his Godfather for trying to leave him alone in this situation, but it seemed planned when Cyrus said, "By all means, Kendra would you please escort Lord Black around and give him a tour."

The woman did not seem to like being dismissed but nodded and offered her arm to the man leaving just Daphne and Harry alone with the head of house, "Now I understand it Harry that you had a life debt between yourself and my daughter is that correct."

"Yes, sir that was the proper past tense insinuation. There was an existing life debt before I absolved it." Harry said calmly.

"May I ask why? You could have asked anything from my family, yet you chose to let it all go. Not very Slytherin of you." The man observed.

"Well it is for those reasons I am not in Slytherin Lord Greengrass I am in Ravenclaw. As to my reasons why, Daphne is my friend. I defended her at the World Cup however not because I knew who she was, but because it was the right thing to do. To answer my good deed and tarnish it with forcing her into something she wouldn't want or bringing a trial to her family was unacceptable. I did a terrible thing that night in defense of your daughter, and perhaps even I feel it is my punishment not to receive anything from that deed. Perhaps you can respect that." Harry said defensively.

The man observed the young man in front of him, and sighed, "I can respect it. You being as young as you are, and knowing that you are capable of such magic, and then doing them are very different. However, I insist if you are ever in need of the house of Greengrass that you ask for the aid. You saved the heir to my family Heir Potter, and it is not something I will forget."

Harry bowed slightly to the man, and then said, "With that thought in mind sir I do have a request."

The man's eyebrows shot up into his hairline it seemed when he asked, "What is the nature of this request?"

"I wish to court your daughter formally. I will not do so without your permission as per the old ways." Harry said.

The man looked between the two and then did something neither expected he laughed, "Oh I was wrong. You would definitely have done well in Slytherin. I have a feeling I see my daughters' hand is in this, but none the less I accept and even approve of this. I think if one day you two decided to draw up a contract it would bring prominence back to the name of Greengrass, and I dare not refuse that chance even if it is slim."

Harry nodded, but spoke truthfully, "Your daughter is quite special to me Lord Greengrass, and I appreciate your permission."

The man gave the young couple a smile, and shook his head, "You two make a good team. Take care of each other, and I am sure there will be little you cannot do. Now enough of the Pureblood traditions. Harry if we are going to be on good terms, I wish you to just call me Cyrus in my own home of course unless we are having company."

"I would like that thank you sir." Harry said taking the man's hand and looking at Daphne who looked relieved as he winked at her.

The rest of the day went smoothly, and all talks of the future were put on hold as they simply enjoyed the day together as friends and family.

 **(A/N) A short look outside of Hogwarts and at Daphne's family. Sorry for the delay in update it doesn't seem this story is being received very well so I am focusing on closing out the Potter Alliance before I put my focus back into this one! If you are enjoying the story please leave me a review, or a suggestion on what you think could be done to make the story better. Until Next time Cheers!**


	11. Valentine's Day

**Chapter 11**

The rest of the holidays were a blur. Harry had spent Boxing Day with Daphne and her family, and it had been a happy occasion where Cyrus had even proposed a toast to lasting and healthy relationships between the two. Harry only hoped the man would be singing the same tune if the worst were to happen and Voldemort would return.

When Harry returned home to where his parents lived he had a great visit and took his animagus potion. It was something he desperately wanted to do, and was working day and night now to get the transformation down, and knew he would have it before the second task.

He also had a mountain of information to work with from what his parents gave him to do for the next term. They both claimed he was wasting his time in Hogwart's classes, but knew it was good for him socially. It even came up if he wanted to actually enroll into the school next year, or if he was going to return home, and for the first time he told them that he would think about it.

The holidays were over though shortly after that and the New Year had begun. Harry had been invited to Neville's on New Year's and had brought in the New Year with a kiss from Daphne which brought many wolf whistles, and Harry was happy.

It was February before Harry had finalized all of his plans for the second task, and with Valentine's day right around the corner he now had more pressing things to worry about. Harry and Daphne had been having fun as a couple, but they had not really had a real first date if you don't count the Yule Ball which Harry didn't. He was trying to figure out just how to do it in a special way, but was at a complete loss when he was in the kitchen's with Neville venting, "The worst part is she hasn't given me a single clue as to what she would like to do. So far all I have is that we could go to Hogsmeade, but we do that all the time anyways. I would like to do something different, but shoot me now Neville because I don't have a freaking clue."

Neville looked at the boy sympathetically, "Sorry Harry. Honestly I am not real sure what I am going to do with Susan either. She is rather physical person, so she enjoys the little things, and that is not a bad thing for me usually, but this time of year it can definitley make things tricky."

Harry grinned at his friend, "So that's where you keep disappearing to. Finding broom cupboards across the castle to find out just why they call her Ms. Bones?"

This caused Neville to blush, but Harry laughed, "Keep laughing and I won't help you."

Harry wiped away a fake tear, and said, "Sorry Neville, that was just too easy."

The boy grumbled and claimed, "Look Daphne is fairly simple too. She comes from a rich pureblood family, so maybe instead of trying to wow her with something different and unique just take her on picnic on the grounds or something. Everyone will be at Hogsmeade so that should give you two some privacy, and maybe it will all work out."

Harry nodded, "I guess that will work. Next year we are just saying the hell with the rules and I will apparate her off the damn grounds. I'd do it this time, but I haven't gotten side along apparation down to the point I would feel comfortable with taking her far away unless it was an emergency."

Neville nodded, "You already have a plan which is better than what I have. I did get her a pretty nice dress to wear with the promise to take her on a real date once we get out for the Summer, but that is months away, and who knows if we will still be together then."

Harry shook his head, "The girl has eyes for you bro, unless you do something crazy I think its a safe bet."

The boy gave him a hopeful smile, "I hope so, because I really like her."

Harry raised his glass to the boy, "Well at least we have each other to figure this shit out. I would never want to do this alone."

Neville laughed and clicked glasses with the boy as they discussed the upcoming dueling schedule, and the upcoming second task.

Valentine's day was upon Hogwarts at last. Harry had a small plan for Daphne, but it started with meeting in the great hall, and leaving the masses for the day. Most of the couples would be going down to Hogsmeade, or trying to find a private place in the castle, but Harry planned to keep things a little more original.

He was sitting in the great hall reading the Daily Prophet whom had been unusually quiet with nothing to report on recently. Apparently there was a scandal about a month ago about someone on the Hogwarts staff being Half Giant, but that was hardly news to Harry. He had seen the Gameskeeper around Hogwarts, and even greeted the large man, and he was friendly to say the least, so what did it really matter if he was half giant or not?

Harry shook his head as he was finally reading about Bertha Jorkins whom had been reported missing after nearly four months of actually being gone. Harry assumed that if the woman had disappeared for this long there was a good chance the only thing they would ever find of the woman is a body, if anything at all. He had been having strange dreams about Voldemort, and his snake, a long with Peter Pettigrew, and another man he did not recognize, but it didn't seem important. After all it was just a dream.

Daphne arrived down in the hall not long after he was done reading the rag of a newspaper and kissed him on the cheek wishing him a Happy Valentine's day, "Did you find my flowers love?"

The girl nodded with a bit of a shy smile, "But I can't for the life of me figure out how you did it? You had to have had an inside man in my common room, and it had to be a girl, but I don't know who. None of my dorm mates fessed up to it, and I am at a bit of a loss."

Winking at the girl and taking her hand softly he said sweetly, "Isn't that all apart of the magic? You just not knowing how i did it?"

Daphne merely rolled her eyes and continued to stare at the boy. Harry grumbled, "I had an older Slytherin Girl do it. Anthony Goldstein's sister."

Daphne glanced down to the dark brunette who was chatting away with her friends, and nodded, "That makes more sense. How do you feel today? Sore from training?"

Harry stretched his arms out a bit trying to remember if he was sore or not before saying, "No I think I am mostly good. Maybe a little peaky, but I am a little dehydrated so a couple of glasses of water and I will be fine."

She nodded then looked around, "So what are we doing today? Anything exciting?"

Harry shrugged, "Nothing terribly exciting, but private."

Daphne's eyes widened, but then narrowed, "We aren't going into a broom cupboard, and locking ourselves in staying there all day are we?"

Rolling his eyes the green eyed boy said, "When have I ever put you in a broom cupboard before? Why would I start now on Valentine's day of all days."

The girl blushed a bit and her own short sighted thinking but then questioned, "Then what?"

"Patience Love. Are you ready to leave for the day?" Harry said patiently.

"Shouldn't I eat breakfast first?" She asked carefully looking for hints.

"Breakfast is waiting on us elsewhere." Harry continued with a grin.

The Slytherin girls giggled at Harry playing with Daphne, and she wanted to glare, but couldn't quite muster it in her. So she held her head high saying, "Very well. After you Heir Potter."

Harry chuckled, "Being all formal that's cute Heiress Greengrass. Please follow me."

With that Daphne rolled her eyes and followed her boyfriend of a month and a half now, and took his hand once they got out of the great hall, "So really where are we going now that you are done with the show?"

"A private place I warded on the grounds last night. No one will bother us, and I had some house elves prepare us breakfast, and I thought we could go on a walk around the Black Lake. You remembered your walking shoes as I requested in my note?"

The girl pulled up her school robes a bit to show that she had indeed remembered, but it was a little chilly for a day like this in the Scottish Highlands, "Won't we be cold?"

Shaking his head he laughed, "I am quite competent at magic, and I managed to key warming charms into my wards so it will be warm where we rest, and I plan to put some warming charms on your clothes as we begin our walk so you can be warm. Its just you and I today unless you decide you want to join some of our friends later in Hogsmeade which we can do at any point. Honestly I struggled with this for a while mostly because it wasn't very special, but I figured if we just spent some a lone time together it would be alright."

Daphne nodded bumping her shoulder to his, "You did fine Harry. Plus finding the flowers, and the note this morning was a good start. You seem to be a capable gentleman."

"Don't let my Godfather hear that! He may be frustrated to know I haven't tried to steal your virtue." Harry joked.

Daphne said in a kidding manner, "Believe me I am as disappointed as he is."

This caused Harry to grin wickedly and look around before gently pushing the girl up against a nearby tree, "You mean you want me to steal your virtue."

At this he began kissing her on the cheek, and slowly worked his way down to her neck being much bolder than usual, but when the girl's eyes widened, but then closed and bit back a moan Harry knew his trick was dirty, but effective when he pulled away.

The girl opened her eyes and glared at him, "That was not funny."

"It wasn't supposed to be." Harry said cheekily.

With this she jogged to catch up with him when they came across a small area that was grassed over well, and had a good view of the lake. When Daphne walked into it she felt magic wash over her, and recognized Harry's aura everywhere. His power was very familiar to her, and nearly intoxicating, "This place feels like you."

Harry smiled softly at the girl, "I hope you like it. I walked the grounds twice in the middle of the night to find this place."

This made her smile widen as she realized the thought she had put into this, and he walked over to a basket, and pulled out a blanket, and checked the contents for food, "It seems my friends from the kitchen hooked us up. Shall we enjoy our meal together?"

The meal was nice and simple with a few sandwiches, and some cold butter beer. There was also some fruits, and yogurt that the two could enjoy. Breakfast was mostly silent, and Harry sighed contently, "So what do you think?"

"The food was really good. Thank you for doing this Harry." Daphne said in appreciation.

It was a pretty day outside despite how cold it was. The wind was at a near stand still, and the grounds were still covered in pockets of snow. The sky was mostly clear with the exception of a few stray clouds. Harry laid back on the blanket he had rolled out and just stared up at the sky. Daphne crawled over next to him laid down as well and crossed her hands over her chest closing her eyes, "What are you going to do after school?"

Harry stared up at the sky with her thinking about her question. He wasn't really sure. He always thought the possibility of him fighting a war, or dealing with Voldemort would take up most of his time, and he never tried to really look much past that scenario it didn't usually lead to pleasant places, "I am not sure honestly. I guess I have a lot of options depending on where things stand with Voldemort. I could go on the dueling circuit professionally and try to make a team, or stand individually like Professor Flitwick did. I could take a shot at being a Hitwizard, because I definitely don't want to be auror to much paperwork, and too many rules. I could even take up politics, and do that for a living. I am a hell of ward and rune designer so I could also be a curse breaker. I guess there is a world of options, and I have enough skills to do a lot of different things. I would probably enjoy dueling the most though. What about you Daph?"

Daphne kept her eyes closed and smiled, "I would like to think I can make the dueling circuit, and make a little bit of money. Duel for a few years, and then maybe come out and give teaching a try. After that hopefully I have enough money to settle down for a few years. Travel the world. Have a few kids, get married, who knows right? The apple pie life sounds kind of nice."

Harry opened his eyes and looked at the girl. He would have wondered if she found a way to use her passive legillmency on him, because she stole the thought right of his mind. A normal life, and a family. That sounded like heaven, "Sounds like a dream worth aspiring for."

The tone is his voice told her that he was serious, and that he didn't think it was silly to want to be normal. The two talked politics and childhood dreams, and even some of their favorite child hood memories, before they knew it was time for lunch, and they had hardly moved a muscle since arrival just enjoying talk of their past, and hopes for their future. Harry felt very at peace, and he still had a bit of a surprise for the girl.

They finally decided to get up and go for a walk after lunch, and held hands mostly observing the nature and beauty of their surrounding areas, and just fell into the comfortable silence. When they returned it was nearly night fall and the romantic day was nearly over. They had decided to make there way back to the castle and have dinner with the rest of the students when they saw smoke in the distance.

Daphne was the first to see it, "Harry what is that?"

Harry who was looking towards the ground with a goofy smile on his face that was left from their snogging session looked up quickly, and his smile disappeared as quick as the smoke was rising in the distance, "That smoke looks like a fire, but it looks like its coming from Hogsmeade."

"Think the three broomsticks kitchen caught fire?" Daphne asked concerned for their friends who had spent the day there.

"Possibly, but that's a lot of smoke for a kitchen fire. Maybe we should investigate." Harry said evenly.

The girl swallowed nervously, but nodded. She offered her hand to him thinking they were going to run, but instead he pulled her into a hug, and apparated them to Hogsmeade where chaos was happening. His wand was in his hand in a moment, "Stupefy. Petrificus Totalus."

Two werewolves immediately hit the ground as they appeared on the back side of what looked like an attack. Harry spoke sharply, "Draw your wand and stay behind me. It seems I miscalculated this one. I am sorry I should've left you and came back."

Daphne growled, "You should've done no such thing. Who would've watched your back? I am right behind you just go."

Harry nodded as he surged forward picking off half turned werewolves who were trying to attack people in the streets. The green eyed boy was a whirlwind of destruction as he dueled two at a time and took them both down with ease, only to spin around and take another one, and even turned to take down the one that had tried to curse Daphne.

The Slytherin Princess was in awe of the boy in front of her. She had seen him duel plenty of times, but it was never anything like this. He had to have taken down 8-10 enemies easily, and she was just making sure no stray curses hit him in the back, and if one came towards her he would be on them in a flash and have them downed with ease. She was freshly reminded that her boyfriend was a very good and capable duelist, and if he could take on Death Eaters a few Werewolves who were probably barely average wizards with no education would hardly be a challenge.

It wasn't long before they made it to the heart of Hogsmeade, and a group of werewolves were trying to get into the three broomsticks where spell fire was keeping the beast out. Harry seemed to be thinking pretty rationally until he heard a scream ring out, and Daphne and the young man found their eyes upon a young man standing in front of a girl screaming in pain. The Cruciatas curse without a doubt, but the part that made all rationality fly out the window was the fact that it was Neville Longbottom protecting Susan Bones with everything he had that lit the fire inside of Harry. Harry growled, "Daphne go take cover somewhere. The coast should be clear behind us, but I need to face them, and I don't want you near this. I have to get to Neville."

Daphne shook her head, "We are a team Harry. We do this together."

"Not this time Daphne. That is Fenrir Greyback, and it may take me sometime to take him down. If I can do it I am not even sure, but I have to try." Harry said for the first time she saw doubt in his eyes.

She took his hand, "Then we will try together. Go on Harry you have trained me for months I have your back."

Harry felt the strength of her words and her conviction and prayed that she would be okay, and that her mother and father wouldn't skin him for this later, "GREYBACK!"

Half a dozen werewolves including one that was still standing on his own two legs with a jacket on, but no shirt under neath it leaving his bare chess wide open, turned to stare at him halting the torture of Neville, "Ah Potter. It's about time."

"I haven't come to talk. Call off your men and let us settle this one on one, or are you too afraid to fight a fourteen year old boy alone. Then again I don't see much bravery here. Torturing a boy in the street for protecting his loved one, can you stoop any lower." Harry taunted.

The werewolf growled, "You are no ordinary fourteen year old, and I see you yourself are not alone. Have you brought me an extra snack? I thought I would be satisfied with these two, but perhaps you will give me more."

Staring hatefully at the man Harry finally dropped his second wand into his hand, "There is no escape this time Greyback, and you won't ever lay a finger on her."

With that Harry surged forward, and began blasting the enemy line with both wands. Thankfully the people in the three broomsticks who were watching the battle quickly joined in and attempted to distract the other five dark creatures, while Daphne herself was trying to pick off the distracted fighters, and take them down and even out the numbers. This gave Susan the much needed chance to carry her shaking boyfriend out of harms way, and into the safety zone while they were all distracted.

Harry was a whirlwind of lethal magic. Sending out five chain spells like a frenzy he was unstoppable. Greyback had yet to be able to fire off a single piece of offensive magic since the fight started due to the constant number of shields he was being forced to keep up.

Daphne had already taken down two of the werewolves with the help of the people in the bar, and a few had even stepped outside to take the fight to them. One was clearly an auror with light pink hair, and the other looked to be one of the Weasley's with his flaming red hair. The fight was quickly turning, and even as the rest of the werewolf population seemed to be converging on the location people were being inspired by Harry's resistance and were standing up to fight.

Harry however had slipped up a bit allowing the enemy to return spells at him, and with killing curses being thrown into the mix Harry knew this had gotten a lot more dangerous to defend himself and Daphne, "Daphne get out of here. You could be hit by a stray curse. Go towards the auror. Now!"

Daphne wanted to keep covering his back, but after another green curse sailed towards them and Harry was forced to summon a brick wall to absorb it so she agreed, and took off at a sprint towards the auror. Harry was summoning shields protecting Daphne as she ran, and his distraction cost him one of his wands as a nearby werewolf disarmed him. Now he was fighting both Greyback and one of his followers. Greyback was then hit by one of his bludgeoning curses and roared and charged at him.

The stray wolf hit Harry with a bone breaker in his arm, and he cried out in pain. Then a flash of red light flew towards Daphne and it barely missed her striking a nearby person who screamed out in pain. This caused a temporary distraction that was enough for Harry to lose his second wand.

He saw that Greyback was quickly closing the distance fast clearly with the intent to kill, and Harry for the briefest moments thought this was how it was going to end. But what felt like the last possible moment a blast rocked the werewolf which threw him into a nearby wall making him slump a bit to the ground in pain. Neville Longbottom who looked like he would fall over at any moment was standing their wand drawn with a defiant look on his face, "I saw you dropped this."

At this Neville threw his wand to him, and Harry grinned at the boy, "Thanks buddy, Susan get him out of here. I will end this."

Susan who looked terrified but incredibly proud of her boyfriend nodded, and dragged him away. Greyback was back on his feet however snarling at Harry, and clearly realising that his forces were dropping like flies at this point.

Harry quickly fired three curses off taking down three distracted fighters, and now it was just himself and Greyback. Greyback raised his wand, but Harry was furious and ready. He had the Alpha wolf disarmed in seconds.

Greyback roared out, "Will you strike down a disarmed man?"

Shaking his head the boy shouted back, "I see no man before me, just a monster."

With that Greyback looked at him with hatred and flexed his hands out causing his nails to grow out even more than normal and he screamed a primal roar at Harry charging with all his might.

This time Harry didn't cast curses or hesitate instead he met Greyback at a full charge. Many people began screaming at the boy for this, and some even tried to fire curses around him, but they quickly ceased when Harry took an inhuman leap into the air and transformed into a powerful black creature that took down the charging werewolf with a powerful collision. There was a quick tussel full of slashing claws, biting teeth, and inhuman roars.

When it was over the wolf had been defeated laying broken, beaten, and bloodied on the ground. The Black Panther had now put some distance between the two, and had been heaving with deep breaths when it roared out a triumphant victory.

Harry whom in his animagus transformation looked back to Daphne who looked shocked to see him as this powerful creature, but he merely raised his head to the girl, before turning back to himself. He then summoned his wands wandlessly from nearby and the battle had ceased. Harry was heaving for breath, and his shirt along with the rest of his clothes were tattered from the fighting. Their was blood all over his chest, and legs, with only a bit on his face, but he looked dangerous and angry.

He walked over to the down man and everyone who was left watched the boy approach, "For the lives that you took today, yesterday, and the years before this I sentence you to die. Goodbye Fenrir, and let our paths never cross again."

With that Harry paused and took a deep breath letting the hate feed his power, and then screamed out a curse and blasted the werewolf at point blank range straight in the chest with a piercing charm instantly ending the man's life.

Harry heaved and fell to his knees knowing he had taken a second life in a year. This one much worse than the first knowing that he did it intentionally, but Fenrir was one of the worst, and somehow that made it easier in his immediate mindset. He had turned so many men, women, and worst of all children. Even his dad's long time best friend from his school days had his life ruined by this man, and that doesn't even include the one's he killed in his lust for power. It was over.

Daphne ran to the boy as fast as her legs could carry her and brought him into a hug, "Are you okay? Are you hurt? How did you do that? When did you become an animagus?"

Harry wanted to cry in relief. He had killed a man, but she was just making sure he was okay, "My body hurts a bit. I think I got hit by a few stray spells, but I am okay. I had been working on the transfiguration for weeks, I had just gotten it down last night, and I was going to show you today, and surprise you. How's Neville did you see him?"

At this Neville came back out into the street limping towards him leaning on Susan for support. Harry quickly grasped the boy away from Susan and pulled him into a tight embrace, "Thank you Neville. You saved my life."

Neville gave a sob like laugh, "I think we can call it even!"

Both boys laughed, and applause began to ring throughout the village. Harry turned and it seemed every person in Hogsmeade had come out to witness and applauad the two young heroes. Harry grabbed Neville's hand and held it in the air as the applause increased.

It was an immensley proud moment for Harry to be beside his bestfriend and to win such a battle. He had a horrible feeling that this would not be the last time to the two stood on a battlefield together, and he could only hope that they would be as victorious as they were this day.

The auror from before came towards Harry as the applause died out, "Harry Potter am I right?"

Harry nodded his head dumbly, and the girl looked around at the scene of destruction, "I think I have you down for suppressing over a dozen werewolves, and at fourteen. Uncle Sirius is right you are no joke kid."

Harry looked up sharply, "Nymphadora Tonks? I have heard stories about you, its a pleasure. I would hug you or shake your hand, but..."

The girl held up a hand, "Say no more I understand. Its just Tonks by the way, and I will need to get your statement about what happened here."

Daphne looked at the girl for a moment before saying, "Can it wait? We need to get everyone out of here, and the boys to the hospital wing."

The auror looked around surveying the scene as dozens of pops rang throughout Hogsmeade at the site of more of her aurors, "Now they bloody show up...Look Potter you can have your girlfriend here take you to the hospital wing because I don't see any thing seriously wrong with you, but be prepared for me stop by sometime tomorrow or maybe even later tonight if you can't sleep. You did good work here tonight, and may have saved a lot of lives. These people are indebted to you, whether they know it tonight or not. Thank you. This could have been a very long and bloody fight without you, and as for the death of Greyback, well lets just say i don't think the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be looking to press charges."

This made Harry's lips twitch with a smile, but it never formed. His body was shaking with adrenaline, and he nodded as Daphne took his arm and helped him to find his feet again. Daphne had him throw his arm around her, and they began trying to return to their school with Neville and Susan close behind. Applause rang out again, and the aurors who had just come on the scene appeared confused. However the people of Hogsmeade knew who their heroes were. A legend was born on that night in Hogsmeade, and it would be one that some would tell for the rest of their lives.

 **A/N: After a great reaction to the last chapter i have definitely decided to keep going with the story! Please let me keep hearing your voices and opinions as the story progresses though. It really inspires me to keep up with this. Lots of big plans coming with the story so please stay tuned, and cheers!**


	12. The Second Task

**Chapter 12**

Harry lie in the hospital wing staring out the window. He was hardly hurt, but the matron of the Hospital wanted him to stay overnight for observation, and regular checks on his magic which were still reeling from the amount he had used while fighting Greyback. Apparently his animagus transfiguration had really left him drained, but he was proud and excited that he had finally pulled it out. Sadly it became kind of an after thought after all that happened.

Harry looked across the medical wing to see a sleeping Neville resting fitfully. The sting of the battle for Neville was clearly causing a little bit of Post Traumatic stress, and Harry felt the burn from the murder he committed. There was no vomiting or shaking and crying on the floor this time, and Harry was disturbed by the idea that he could becoming used to killing people. When Sirius had arrived Harry had discussed this with him, but he explained that it was more likely that Harry felt Fenrir had deserved to die, but while the faceless man he had killed could have been anyone. After all weeks passed before Harry figured out it was Jugson he had slain at the Quidditch World Cup.

Nicholas and Pernelle had both come to visit their son, and Dumbledore had as well. He regarded his disappointment that he had not allowed Fenrir to be captured, and that they could have learned much from him, but also understood that in the heat of a battle, and even the aftermath sometimes the adrenaline can get to your head. His parents however were ecstatic that he managed his first successful transformation. His dad was jumping up and down with excitement and demanded Harry show him his form.

When Harry did he got lots of whistles of appreciation, and Harry explained to them that he was a Black Panther, and he was very fast in his animal persona.

Tonks had taken his statement that night since Harry was unable to sleep and the two had talked for what felt like hours as he explained his entire day, and then the battle, and finally how he was so skilled. Officially the auror department was not pressing any charges against Harry, and depending on the Public Opinion the next day he could even be up for an Order of Merlin Second Class.

Harry would of course refuse the award, and would never accept an Order of Merlin for anything less than defeating Voldemort himself. Fenrir Greyback was only a casualty of the war to come, but Harry had his eyes on the bigger prize one day.

Daphne had not even been hit by a single spell during the fire fight that lasted for nearly half an hour, and she told her father that when he arrived. She was the safest witch in Hogsmeade, and after he saw the memory of how fiercely Harry protected her he agreed, but asked Harry not to drag her into any more battlefields if he could help it. Thankfully the man was understanding though and knew it wasn't really a choice, but an accident.

It was a good thing he was also not really a British citizen, and diplomatic immunity protected him from the apparation and animagus laws, but still he promised Auror Tonks that the decision was made to stay in Britain for a longer period of time then he would definitely seek out both respective licenses.

The next day when the Daily Prophet Harry and the others were thankful to see they were claiming him and Neville as heroes, and the saviors of Hogsmeade. It unfortunately however was turned back on Dumbledore a bit that he should have been there much faster, and Harry agreed that they had a point, where was Dumbledore during the conflict? He should have been able to see almost the entire battle from his office, and unless he was out of the castle why didn't he intervene?

Some questions are never meant to be answered though and once again Harry was taken very seriously by his competition in the Triwizard Tournament as the second task approached.

Speaking of his competition Cedric had personally thanked Harry for what he had done. Apparently Cho was in the Three Broomsticks waiting on him to join her, and she was completely alone during the battle. Harry told him it was nothing, and glad he was able to help, but the boy was determined to help him, and even offered to give advise on the second task, but Harry assured him he had the answers.

Two days before the second task another oddity had occurred, and it came in the form of Mad-Eye Moody. Moody had invited Harry to his office after class, and wanted to have a few words with him, "You can relax Potter you aren't in trouble."

Harry sighed in a bit of relief after all he wasn't exactly respectful to the War Veteran, but the man wasn't exactly the picture tactful or subtle either, "That's good to hear Professor. I hope you know I mean no disrespect, but the number of faux pas you commit are numerous."

The man barked out a laugh, "It's how I keep my humor through everything Potter, and I hope you don't one day have to use similar tactics. Now what are you thinking for the second task?"

Harry knew it wasn't necessarily against the rules for a professor to ask this question, but it was against the rules for the Professors to aid him, "I have a plan. It's in the Black Lake, and they intend on stealing what I hold most dear, and I can promise you they won't be able to hold onto it long if they are taking what I think they are."

The man grinned evilly, "Then you have unraveled the riddle good. I have been trying to find away to assist you without breaking the oath. It is unfair, and unwise to allow you compete in this tournament regardless of your progress and first place standing so far. Someone clearly wanted to bait you into coming here, and that could mean trouble. We must remain Constantly Vigilant."

Harry nodded, and took the dismissal as fast as he could.

It was now the night before the task, and Harry placed every protective charm on Daphne he could think of, a long with a dozen tracking spells that he had researched. No matter what she was coming back to him tomorrow. One way or another. Daphne had rolled her eyes with each spell he had cast, but also was a little flattered that she would be the person he would miss most. Harry took no chances however, and even when no one was looking threw a few tracking charms at Neville just in case they tried to pull a fast one.

The day of the second task had arrived however, and when he arrived at breakfast and saw Neville he knew the game had begun, and that he would not be seeing Daphne this morning. He silently swore that if anything were to happen to her there would be absolute hell to pay.

He quickly ate his breakfast and retreated from the hall to prepare. Neville had gathered him some Gillyweed, and he was also ready with the bubble-head charm, and even a muggle oxygen mask if worse came to worst.

Dumbledore had explained to the Champions at Breakfast that the second task would begin at noon, and that they would have to start at the Black Lake to cross onto the platforms where the task would be actually held, and Harry was already out there scoping it out as soon as they were dismissed. Three massive pillars in the water were out there, and Harry understood that only a few select people and friends for each champion would be allowed on the pillars along with each of the schools delegations, and Senior Ministry Officials.

For Harry, Sirius, and his parents would be there along with Kendra Greengrass, and apparently a couple of surprises.

Noon came quickly as Harry was getting more and more anxious to get Daphne out of the cold water, and when he crossed the lake he was stretching quickly to warm up and get in the water.

Sirius was the first of his party to arrive, and hugged his Godson tight, "Don't worry about Daphne Prongslet I am sure she will be completely safe."

Harry shrugged, "As long as she is safe right now she will be fine, I have a plan. Where are mum and dad?"

As if on command a boat arrived with a group of familiar looking people. Not only were both of his parents present, but three of his best friends he met at the Ilvermony dueling camps. Michael Cotton the previous U17 World Dueling Champion was one of them, along with Sierra Michael who was Harry's first kiss and absolute best friend in America, and the other was an Italian by the name of Lyota Galvan whom was friends with Harry from the dueling circuit. Harry was shocked to see each of them, and when Michael stepped onto the dock Harry immediately pulled the boy into an embrace, "Michael! I didn't know you were coming."

The boy grinned as he pulled his friend into a hug, "I told you in my last letter we would try and catch at least one of your task, and we had a weekend off at Ilvermony so I decided to contact your parents and make it happen. I hear things have gotten real interesting over here, and that doesn't even include what's happened with the tournament."

The question was there, but the look Harry gave him told him it would have to wait till later for an explanation. Michael ran a hand through his dark hair, and his brown eyes looked puzzled and worried, but said nothing else on the matter, and let the rest of his friends greet him.

Sierra kissed the boy on the cheek before pulling him into a hug, "Oh I've missed you James! I wish you would have made sometime and come by to see us over the Christmas Holidays. How are you?"

Harry smiled at one of his oldest friends, and didn't correct her on addressing him by his alter ego, "I am a lot better now that you guys are here I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. They took one of my friends and I have to dive into this water to go get her."

Sierra who was a beautiful black haired girl with pale white skin shook her head. Her green eyes were probably the closest Harry had ever seen to his own, and if he didn't know any better he would've said they were related.

Lyoto however was next to greet him, "I see this tournament hasn't gotten any more creative this go around. Dragons in the first task, and now using a body of water to hold hostages this has all been done before where is the originality?"

Lyoto was definitely one to talk on original Harry thought. He was one of the most unorthodox duelist he ever met. The Italian boy was fair skinned, and looked like several Hispanic Americans he had met at Ilvermony, but the boys facial hair was filled out, and his hair was shaggier than usual. His dark hair and dark eyes however looked alert, and prepared to fight just as he always was, "It's good to see you Lyoto. How is training going?"

The boy smiled predatory, "Excellent. I look forward to our match at the U17 Championship. I plan to face you in the finals."

Harry smiled at the boys confidence and put his hands on two of his best friends, "I am so glad you guys are here. When I finish this task we will all catch dinner, and talk. You'll will have to wait to meet my girlfriend though because she is kind of the hostage they stole."

All three of them raised their eyes at this. Girlfriend? Nicholas and Pernelle had said nothing about that, and when the three turned to face the Flamel's they were innocently looking away but both had guilty smiles. Sierra glared at the boy, "You didn't mention a girlfriend in your letters!"

It was clearly an accusing tone, and not because she was jealous, but because she wasn't being kept in the loop. Sierra was very close to Harry growing up. They had attended all of the dueling camps together, and struck up a close friendship. She was even there with Lyoto in Paris when the Vampire's attacked.

Michael came up to him and whispered in his ear, "What's your odds of winning this?"

Harry looked around as the other two came in closer, "Really good. I have a plan, about a dozen of them actually with every different tracking spell I could find. Even if they dispelled a few there are no way they found all of them. I have Gillyweed for speed, and I plan to get her out as quick as possible."

Michael nodded easily, while the other two considered his plan. Sierra spoke quietly, "Remember to use your bludgeoning curses under water they will be twice as fast as usual, and three times as effective against the Merpeople or Grindylows if they give you trouble."

Harry was about to say something when Neville arrived on the platform which caused a chorus of shouting his names as Michael and Sierra at least approached the boy and greeted him warmly with a hug, and Lyoto who didn't know Neville as well greeted him happily with a handshake.

Michael laughed, "So how is the champs coach doing?"

Instead of Neville answered it was Harry that laughed, "He is doing God's work the Gillyweed. That was actually his idea."

Sierra nodded, "Oh I figured that out the second you said it Harry. I think we all knew the rare Tibetan herbology herb wasn't discovered by you. No thanks."

"None taken." Harry said easily.

Neville however just shrugged his shoulders, "It was an obvious choice. But it is good to see you guys. Harry didn't tell me you all would be here!"

Quick introductions came through as Susan arrived behind Neville, and Harry explained to Neville that he had not known either that they were coming either.

The champions were then called to prepare for the task to begin, and with some final wishes of good luck Harry went over to the starting line.

Cedric looked a little anxious, as did Krum, but none were as bad as Fleur who was looking down right distraught, "I can't believe they did this. The veela and the merpeople are natural enemies, and they just took her down there. I can't believe they didn't think of this."

Harry looked at the girl in alarm, and had not even considered such a problem. He quietly vowed that he would save Daphne and go back and help the other champions if it came down to it, but Daphne first no matter what he thought.

Dumbledore took the podium and began the task, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament. For the Champions, and those that don't know last night something was stolen from each of the champions, and from the sound of the cannon they will have one hour to retrieve it. Good luck champions."

With this Harry ripped off his shirt, which led some whistles, but he was focused. The others were all wearing swimsuits, but Harry did not care much for that. He just wanted to begin. He knew that it was only a matter of seconds now, and put the gillyweed in his mouth, and damn near choked to death on it trying to get it down. The cannon went off, and he quickly dived into the water as the gills were starting to make it hard to breath. Once he hit the water the pain of the transfiguration was brief, but once it was over he pulled out his wand and cast the tracking spells to find Daphne, and thankfully the first one lit up right away, and he sprinted down the path in the water as fast as he could.

Occasionally magical creatures would approach him especially grindylow, but he was blasting them apart and that seemed to dissuade the others from trying anything. Within five minutes he had found the hostages, and the Merpeople all cleared the way for him as he arrived. He saw Cho Chang, Hermione Granger, Fleur's sister who seemed alive and okay despite her current state, and Daphne who was definitely his hostage to save. He turned to one of the Merpeople and decided to try and be diplomatic and use one of the advantages of Gillyweed, "What will happen if the other champions do not find this area?"

The Merpeople all stared at him for a moment, before an older looking one approached him, "Not to worry Champion. They will all be safe regardless. In an hour when the time is up those that are not found will be returned to the surface regardless of their heritage."

All the Merpeople glanced at Fleur's little sister, and Harry bowed his head to the creature, "Thank you for the assurance. I will take my hostage and go then."

Harry cut the rope with a cutting curse, and quickly grabbed onto Daphne and took her to the top of the water. The cheering was deafening and Harry had easily won the second task, "There is Mr. Potter there with his hostage Ms. Greengrass with the fastest time of a sheer ten minutes. Remarkable!"

Ludo Bagman, who was the head of the Sports section of the Minsitry was leading the announcement and even Daphne seemed surprised at this time, "Were you in that big of a hurry to get to me."

Harry grinned as he put her on his back and swam them towards them platform, "Its freezing, and I figured you'd want to get the hell out of this water."

This caused the girl to laugh, but she was shaking and Harry wanted to get her out of the water as fast as possible so she didn't get sick. When they made it to the Platforms they quickly pulled Daphne out, but Harry just came up to the edge, "What happens if I get out of the water Neville?"

"The magic should end, but if not I will throw you back in." Neville said cautiously.

Harry nodded and took a dive under the water, and then shot out as fast as he could landing on the platform coughing and relishing in the regular oxygen flooding his lungs as the transfiguration ended making Neville correct and the real MVP of this task. Harry would never have thought to use Gillyweed, and while he easily still could have completed the task he thought his solution was clever and different.

He was swarmed by his friends and family when he landed, and the congratulations for first place were immense, and Harry was relishing in the moment as his girlfriend jumped up and brought him into a tight hug. This led to some quick introductions, and even a few embarrassing stories about Harry while they waited for the rest of the task to finish.

At the thirty minute mark Fleur returned to the surface gasping for breath, and crying clearly having failed her task. They pulled her out quick and the girl was inconsolable until Harry went over to her and quietly explained that he talked to the Merchief and that he promised Harry that her sister was safe regardless of her heritage. This led to a big hug from the French girl, and Daphne tried not to get annoyed at the girl clinging to her boyfriend in her bathing suit, but it didn't work.

When the two separated Harry gave the girl a smile and patted her on the shoulder making it as friend zone as possible which made Daphne smile as he returned to her. Cedric came up fifteen minutes later just five minutes before the task was over with his hostage and applause was consistent and loud. Krum came up just as the clock expired, and this time the cheering was deafening.

Dumbledore took back over the announcement as Gabrielle Delacour floated to the surface, "ATTENTION! THE WINNER IS HARRY POTTER!"

A loud cheer came from his section, and Michael who was right behind him was holding up a Jersey that had his dueling number seven on it, and had Potter on both sides, and Harry was sure he would want to see that picture in the prophet tomorrow when he heard the sound of a camera snap. The rest of the awards went out, and Harry was now leading the contest by a landslide. Harry honestly didn't think much of the tasks so far they were fairly simple, and this one was almost too easy. The dragon he got by with a little bit of luck, and a lot of skills, but this task only required a bit of problem solving, and a limited amount of spell knowledge. He was pretty confident even without all his training this task would have been fairly simple once he figured out the riddle.

The group had celebrated all the way back to Hogwarts grounds where Harry had an odd encounter with Barty Crouch who congratulated him, and asked to speak with him for a moment. Harry having no reason to refuse the man walked with him away from the groups, "Your parents would have been proud of you today Potter. I knew your dad many years ago. He was one of my aurors, and he cracked one of the most difficult cases of my career against a few Death Eaters."

Harry didn't know what to say to this, but thanked the man regardless, "Your story is one I have heard many times. To lose one's family is so dreadful but here we stand, hoping to move forward."

Harry was about to say something positive about having a great support system and family in the Flamel's to back him, but then he heard a gruff voice, "Bartimeus, not trying to lure Potter into one of your Summer Internship programs are we? Last boy who went into the Department of Mysteries never came out!"

Harry turned to see Mad-Eye and the man made an odd facial expression, and his tongue slipped out in a very snake like way, and whatever it was it caught Barty Crouch's attention and the man took a step towards Mad-Eye, and then shook his head, and walked away without saying another word, while Mad-Eye called out, "And they said I am mad."

With that being said Professor Moody said, "Well done today Potter. Go rest, and have fun with your friends we will speak later."

Harry nodded and quickly wandered off to find his friends wondering just what the hell all that was about.

 **A/N: Sorry for the very long over due update. Work has been a nightmare, but i have written out the next few chapters, and hope to get you a new one next weekend sometime! Cheers!**


	13. A Rematch

**Chapter 13**

Celebrating his victory of the second task was epic. Harry was on top of the world as he celebrated the night away in the Ravenclaw common room with his friends from America and the Continent. All his friends had been welcomed openly by his housemates and the rest of Hogwarts that night, and Harry kept Daphne as close as he could throughout the night.

The next day when Harry and his friends were sitting at breakfast, and talking comfortably when the Daily Prophet arrived. The front page was of Harry and his friends laughing with his arm around Daphne and Michael holding up his Dueling Jersey in the background happily and the headline said, "Potter and International friends dominate the second task."

Harry interested by the head line grabbed a paper and began reading, " _In a shocking turn of events yesterday many new international arrivals appeared at the tournament_ _and clung to the side of Champion Potter of House Potter, and celebrated the boys stunning victory. Many people were skeptical at the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament when a fourteen year old wizard was entered into this dangerous tournament, but after the stunning display during the first task he silenced all of his critics, and officially shut them down after yesterday's crushing defeat of the other foreign delegations._

 _The French Witch of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Fleur Delacour, was unable to complete the task, and her sister who was the hostage for the tournament was returned to her safely after the failure. This came as a shock to many as Ms. Delacour had gotten second in the first task._

 _The Bulgarian Wizard of Durmstrang, Viktor Krum, who is also the international Quidditch Super Star, and world cup winner, finished in just the nick of time with British Muggleborn witch Hermione Granger (15). Ms. Granger was Mr. Krum's date to the Yule Ball, and managed to be the person he would miss most, and led to having Ms. Granger being held hostage during the second task. Mr. Krum arrived with his hostage in the final seconds of the task and ended in third._

 _The Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory performed admirably and finished in second place with fifteen minutes to spare in the task. Mr. Diggory is now in second place overall in the tournament and his date to the Yule Ball was also his hostage in the tournament, Ms. Cho Chang of Hogwarts._

 _Lastly Mr. Harry James Potter of House Potter. Our forced Champion in the tournament managed to finish the second task in fifteen minutes with three fourths of time still remaining on the clock. His date Heiress Greegrass to the Most Ancient House of Greengrass appeared on his arm at the Yule Ball, and Hogwarts residents report the two to be inseparable since then. It is clear to this reporter, that Champion Potter was prepared to do whatever it took to get his woman back, and performed spectacular magic to rescue her in the fastest time possibly in Triwizard History._

 _Also of note was his company from the international delegations. One Michael Cotton (17) was James Flamel's (Harry Potter's dueling alias) bitter dueling adversary in the World U17 Championship just over the past Summer. Cotton was the American Champion at the major dueling tournament, and won the 16-17 year old division before facing Harry Potter in the finals and falling short, however that did not affect his chances at the pros as he has recently been drafted by an American Professional Team the Dallas Desperadoes. It is clear that the two struck up a great friendship, and Cotton decided to come support the young man in his tasks. Another was Sierra Michael who was another Dueling Champion at the U17 Tournament last year. Michael won the 14-15 year old female division at the tournament and lost to Beaxbatons Champion Fleur Delacour in the semi-finals. Michael is one of America's most promising young duelists, and a very talented prospect coming from Ilvermony of America._

 _Lastly was a surprise Lyoto Galvan the European Champion was an automatic finalist after winning the Euro dueling championship back in the Spring, and won several fights before falling short to Harry Potter in the semi-finals. Lyoto is an Italian young man in the 16-17 division, and was picked to win the tournament as a whole._

 _With this powerful assembly of young people it is clear that young Harry Potter's influence is already spreading far beyond his legend of being the boy who lived, and now even the Hero of Hogsmeade. Keep in touch with the Daily Prophet to bring you more updates on the tournament, and the coming third task._

Harry smiled as he closed the paper. Nothing too negative about him or Daphne, and his friends were all recognized. No one was slighted, and it was a fine piece of journalism, and he suddenly realized that Rita Skeeter was not the writer of this article, but Amanda Goldstein. Harry wanted to speak with his friend in the Ravenclaw to discover why Rita was taken off the case soon if the boy had any information.

Michael stood from the table stretching and looked towards the exit of the great hall, "It's a beautiful day outside. First day of March."

Harry eyed his friend suspiciously and said, "Yeah its spectacular."

Cotton kept his eyes on the door and spoke softly, "It's a good day for a duel. What do you say Potter? I go home today, and I need a good warm up before I return to my side of the world and begin my career as a professional. I think it's time we finally decide who the better duelist is. If you beat me today its undeniable, if I win we meet for another rematch sometime. What do you say?"

Harry smirked. He had been training hard the past few weeks preparing for the task, and then getting his animagus transformation down made him even more comfortable with his power, which left him confident as he glanced at Daphne who seemed curious if her boyfriend would accept the challenge, "Michael what are you saying?"

Michael smiled knowing he was ready for whatever came next, Michael loudly called out, "Harry James Potter I challenge you to single combat to incapacitation, disarm, or knockout. It is purely a duel for honor, and no prize is sought for other than respect. Do you accept my terms?"

Harry stood from his chair dramatically staring the boy in his eyes, "I accept your challenge and your terms. Let us go onto the grounds and begin."

Many people in the hall were whispering in excitement a world champion rematch was about to happen before their eyes. Harry walked to the front of the hall and bowed to the staff table, "Professor Flitwick would you mind reffing a match for my friend and I before he returns to America? He wishes to have a rematch of our last bout."

Flitwick bounced to his feet immediately excited, "It would be my pleasure Mr. Potter I have not refed such a match in many years, but I of course would be willing to help you."

Harry bowed the man, and walked back to his table grabbing his girlfriend's hand, "My lady walk with me. I would like to speak with you."

Daphne grabbed his hand and she wrapped her hand through his arm as they made their way out of the hall, Daphne asked quietly, "You think you can beat him?"

Harry shrugged, "I know I can. I just wanted to warn you he will play for keeps, and it will look fierce, but he won't hurt me and I won't hurt him. At least nothing unreasonable. I want you to watch his tactics and observe, you will face people like him on the circuit this summer. He is a great product to come from Ilvermony but the thing is he is just below a prodigy. He is a great duelist but he is just the product and not the star, so it's important you recognize it. I want you to face Sierra if she is willing before she leaves, but I wanted to talk to you first."

Daphne's eyes widened, "Do you think she would? She is an international champion, and I am sure she wouldn't want to waste her time with me."

Shaking his head Harry said, "Sierra lives for the challenge and new opponents, and she even said last night that she would be interested in dueling with you. She thinks you are my new protegee, and wants to duel people that have my style, and you have certainly adopted a bit of it. I just didn't want to accept on your behalf."

The girl stopped and turned to stare at her boyfriend with a serious look, "Harry the next time one of your international champion friends wants to duel with me I give you permission to accept on my behalf."

This caused the boy to grin, and have a new respect for her as she was not afraid to lose to new people, and she most certainly would, but she would learn and see how she stood against someone of that caliber. Outside of Harry of course.

As they made it to the grounds Harry began stretching and flinging magic towards the woods as he was trying to mentally warm up for the task in front of him. He may have beaten Michael a few times, but the boy had also beaten him, and if he was anything less than his best he would fall today.

Half of an hour would pass before the duel would begin. A platform had been summoned and raised from the grounds by the spectators and the dueling ref. Harry had transfigured his clothes into his Dueling Jersey, and outfit while Michael had done to the same. Daphne had given the boy a firm kiss for luck, and Harry bounced on his heels as he jumped onto the platform, and walked to the middle with his wands in his hands. He looked at Michael who was smirking triumphantly as if he expected to win, and Harry remembered that he was facing a champion much like himself and the usual weaknesses he had seen recently would not be present.

Professor Flitwick stood facing both duelists and spoke loud and clear for the spectators that had assembled, "Duelists let us go over the rules for today's duel. There will be nothing above a class C Dark Arts spell, there will be no lethal hexes thrown at the vital areas of the body, and lastly this duel is to surrender, incapacitation, disarm, or knockout. Are we in agreement."

Both boys voiced an agreement, "Yes sir."

"Very good. Face this way, and bow. Face each other and bow. Walk to your side of the platform, and wait for the countdown." Flitwick commanded.

Harry smiled at his friend as they touched knuckles and wished each other luck, and walked to their platforms. Suddenly only two people existed in the world to Harry, him and his opponent. He closed his eyes as he walked in a straight line to the end of the platform as he had thousands of times before. When he reached the end he opened his eyes and spun around with his primary wand pointing at the boy only to find another wand pointing at him.

The countdown begun and Harry's heart began racing. Michael looked completely calm, and he knew he did as well. He was in his element, and he was in his comfort zone. Nothing serious, nothing on the line, just him doing what he loved.

Harry heard one and he was moving with his shield up and his other wand flinging curses at rapid speeds, and Michael was matching him curse for curse. Harry was chaining spells rapidly, and blasting apart the platform to distract him. Michael was however not losing his focus on the boy and kept attempting to catch him off balance, though Harry was flawless through the first leg of the duel.

Harry had several plans in which to beat the boy. One was to transfigure the rubble into something to fight him while he blasted him off the platform. Another was just to duel until the boy couldn't duel anymore, and then try and catch him off guard with something basic, and end the duel there. There was also the thought of using his animagus to trick him up, but that was risky. Michael was a veteran, and had faced animagus before in his divisions so that probably wasn't a good idea.

The duel had already been approaching ten minutes and neither side was willing to let up. They were both trained to last, and the Hogwarts students were blown away. The longest dueling club match ever had probably lasted this long, and both duelists were dying after that, but these two seemed to still be finding their rhythm.

Harry was impressed with Michael, and had clearly been training very hard since there last duel six months ago. The young man's stamina had greatly improved, and his spell variety was brilliant, but what he lacked was creativity. Harry had seen all these tactics before from the boy, and while the initial strategy may be a little different the end game was still the same, and Harry was reading him like a book.

Finally Michael was starting to sweat after the fifteen minute mark, and Harry knew the time to end the duel was coming, "Fianto Duri."

Suddenly a massive blue wall appeared in front of the boy, and Michael stopped casting in shock for a moment as he stared at the ward scheme that Harry had summoned while he wasn't paying attention.

Harry called out to the boy, "It's over Michael drop your wand."

Michael grinned, "Never."

With that the boy started lashing out at the ward and was already cracking, but Harry grinned as his plan began to go into motion. While Harry was catching his breath Michael was clearly wearing down even more as the ward came down, and as soon as it did Harry took a hard step forward throwing one wand out screaming, "REDUCTO!"

A red beam of light shot from his wand, and Michael easily shielded it, but was stunned when the curse did not stop but a stream of magic and blasting power was coming from Harry. Then Harry with his other wand whipped it over his head, and sent a disarming hex with deadly accuracy, and the boy stood no chance of blocking the blasting curse and stopping the flowing reducto curse causing him to be disarmed, and then bound in the blink of an eye. Many people stared in awe at what Harry had just done. No one in the U17 could hold a spell like that, and very few pros could which made even Flitwick stare at the boy in surprise.

The surprise didn't last long as the diminutive professor flipped a blue flag into the air, "Winner Harry Potter."

Applause came through the crowd as Harry approached his friend, "Good match mate. I thought we were going to duel for an hour at that rate."

Michael just stared at the boy, "How did you do that? The silent ward...I didn't even see your wand move, and then after all this time of dueling you used that trick with the reducto curse...I don't think I have ever seen anything like that at all. You really are going to be great...I look forward to you making it to the Pros, and I hope my coach saves all his salary cap to sign you when you are sixteen I think together we could decimate the circuit. Thanks for the duel buddy."

The two embraced tightly, and when they separated Harry took a light jab at the boy, "You stink Cotton go hit the showers, and let's hold off that rematch for a while alright?"

The boy laughed and smiled at the young man and grabbed his hand and held it up to the approval of the crowd that had gathered, and after it died down Harry and Michael jumped off the platform to be greeted by their referee, "You both have such potential. Cotton I recommend studying more offensive tactics. Your defense is nearly impenetrable, but it was clear to me that every tactic you tried Mr. Potter was familiar with so he read you well throughout the entire fight. Mr. Potter I recommend figuring out how to use many curses in which you used to the reducto curse. A very powerful combination. Mr. Cotton your mistake was shielding. Had you dodged it he would've been forced to keep throwing it, and with luck you could have caught him off rhythm trying to get his strategy and executed and won, but that was a very good duel. You both will do well on the circuits."

Harry and Michael both bowed to the Charms Master in respect having recognized the man was once a star, and any advice he gave was invaluable. At that they approached their group, and Daphne rushed to hug him, "That was incredible. I have never seen anything like that."

"Thanks love. I am glad you enjoyed the show." Harry said kissing the girl on the cheek laughingly.

Cotton grumbled out, and Sierra laughed while Lyoto looked stunned at the level of competition he would be facing next year, "I am glad you and Cotton are not in my division this year. I feel like I wouldn't be going back to the Championship if I was."

Harry shook his head bumping the boy with his hand, "You would still win it in Italy. Your competition is only severe on the International circuit. I will duel with you if you are itching for some action?"

The boy seemed to consider the challenge, but shook his head, "I think I better go to work on some stuff before we duel again. It is clear that I have some new stuff to work on."

Harry chuckled and patted the boy on the shoulder, while Sierra grumbled, "I want to duel someone."

Daphne trying to embrace a bit of the Gryffindor side of things she said, "I will duel with you. I have never dueled with a girl as challenging as you. I have honestly never even made the circuit before."

Sierra took a wicked grin on her face, "I was hoping you would offer. I had heard Harry had taken a young pretty protegee here at Hogwarts, and I would love to see what you got?"

Daphne smiled at the challenge, and Michael asked, "Should we reconstruct the dueling platform."

Sierra nodded her head patting the boy on the cheek, "Make yourself useful while I warm up. Most of the crowd has cleared out so we shouldn't have as big of an audience."

"Why can't Harry do it?" Michael complained.

But she called back, "Harry needs to warm his girl up, and offer her some advice. You and Lyoto are nice and capable. Get to it."

This gave Harry a chance to prepare as he pulled Daphne off to the other side of the platform, "Alright just stay cool. I am going to transfigure you some dueling robes, and stuff is that okay?"

The girl nodded looking nervous, but with a few flicks of his wand Harry had created something similar to what he was wearing except instead of her regular robes she was wearing dueling robes, and a tight black under shirt that reminded him a bit of the dress she was wearing the night of the ball, but he didn't let that distract him, as he transfigured it a little more so it had her last name on the back, but the house Potter insignia on it. At this she raised her eyes and he blushed, "You will put me down as your coach in England, and Neville will just coach you during the World or Continental Championships when you make it that far. Until then you have me, and since you are 'one of my duelist' you get to duel with my house symbol."

The girl nodded at this, and smiled slightly as she looked at her symbol. Neville walked up to the group and smiled, "Good match Harry I wish I had gotten to coach you we would've won that faster. Cotton was telegraphing his stunning curses, and I was waiting for you to counter it over and over again until he slipped into it. Daphne I have seen Sierra duel a few times, and she favors lazy spells that she follows it with blasting curses repeatedly. Don't let her beat you into submission and catch her while she is gathering her energy for the blast and you could deal some damage, and maybe catch her off guard. Make her respect you."

Harry and Daphne exchanged looks, and Harry smiled patting her on the shoulder, "You heard the man. Go give her hell, and make her respect you."

Daphne nodded and Harry held out his knuckles and she hit them as she walked towards the platform where Lyoto was standing preparing to ref the match. He called through the standards and the rules, and before Harry knew it the duel was going.

Daphne was totally in the zone and concentrated as the duel began, and Harry knew it when the first few spells were exchanged. They were on target perfectly, and her wand was flowing beautifully into the chains and defensive counters. Michael was standing next to Harry whistling, "She is good. We may be looking at a future British Champion."

Harry grinned at the boy, "How do you think I fell for her. Look at her potential. She developed most of it naturally. No coach, no dueling lessons, just watching the Hogwarts dueling club. Imagine how good she would be if she had grown up going to the camps with us."

Michael nodded grinning, "So you have fallen for her? I should congratulate you she is quite the looker."

Harry smiled as he watched the intensity on the girls face as she tried to match Sierra spell for spell, "Perhaps, we will see. She is about to go down. She did better than I thought. I figured Sierra would have her down in a minute."

Neville laughed, "By the look on Sierra's face I think she expected the same. Daphne is doing better than I hoped if she duels like this on the local circuits she is going to gain a name quickly especially with you in her corner Harry. I think she will qualify for the National Championship easy. Rookie of the year if we work with her. I will come by in the Summer and work with you, and her. Maybe I will bring Sierra so she has a good dueling partner."

Harry nodded as Daphne was throwing shield after shield and trying to hang on for dear life. The girl lasted four minutes before she hit the ground hard after catching a stunner to the face. Lyoto immediately declared a winner, and revived Daphne who looked slightly shaken, but was smiling brightly when Sierra came over to her and hugged her saying some words that no one else heard.

Harry jumped onto the platform to greet the girl with a tight hug, "You were brilliant. That was a lot better than I would've expected. I think you definitely made her respect you."

Daphne grinned, "I know I did. She said she looks forward to seeing me on the circuit, and at the camps at Ilvermony this summer. What are those like?"

Michael laughed as he approached the two, "You will love them, and they will help you immensely. For us it's kind of repetitive and a repeat of the basics, but it's good to have that once a year. A bunch of pros will come down and hold a camp though at Ilvermony for anyone who would like to come. It's where we all met and became friends many years ago."

Daphne smiled, "That sounds amazing. You think I could go Harry?"

The boy smiled at her enthusiasm, "We will make it happen."

Sierra then walked over to Harry, "You don't do anything half ass Potter and I can appreciate that. You have some potential in this one. She could be a serious threat by the time she turns 17 and enters the circuit, and fights her last year on the amateur side. It's about time the girls pick up some more talent in this country. I haven't faced a good female opponent in ages, and I look forward to seeing her rise in Britain and become a champion. You are in capable hands Ms. Greengrass, just make that another thing that Harry is ahead of all of us in."

Daphne looked at Harry puzzled, and Harry smiled at her promising to tell her later. With that however the friends had to say goodbye, and the foreign delegation that had come to support Harry was preparing to leave, and some who had spectated the whole thing was starting to seriously wonder just what it would take to take down someone like Harry Potter, and one in particular even began to rethink his whole plan.

 **(A/N) More coming soon. Stay tuned, and please review!**


	14. Survivors Guilt

**Chapter 14**

A few weeks had passed since Harry's friends left Hogwarts, and he was sad to see them go, however he was certainly looking forward to the summer where he would get back to doing what he loved. Daphne had been inspired by what she had seen from his friends, and pressed Harry to duel even more, and push her even harder. This involved a lot of losing on her part, but she would always get back up and push herself to be better, and gained Harry's respect even more with each defeat she recovered from.

Harry had also told Daphne that most duelist had the goal of becoming a champion, and then when their time was up they would have already brought up a young champion to follow behind them and continue their legacy. Historically speaking that if women don't have children they can last much longer on the circuit so that is what Sierra had meant by being one step ahead of the rest of them as usual.

This seemed to only make Daphne want to push herself even more, and she was performing much better in the ring, and outside of the ring in her classes with all the advanced magic she was studying.

Before Harry knew it though the spring was coming to a close, and the Summer was coming. It was the end of may when they were told that the champions were going to get the announcement for the third task, and they had all gathered on the Hogwarts grounds to see just what it would be.

Harry stared at what seemed to be like an endless maze in front of him, and felt his stomach churn nervously as he saw its massive side. Ludo Bagman asked the group of champions and headmasters, "Do you know what this is?"

No one said a word, but Krum spoke gruffly, "Maze."

Bagman nodded, "Yes sir! The third task is a maze. In the middle will be the Triwizard Cup, and whoever retrieves it first will be the victor."

Harry shook his head not understanding, "Then what was the point of winning the first two tasks?"

Bagman spluttered a bit, "An excellent question Champion Potter. As it stands you are in first place so you will get a five minute head start into the maze. While Champion Diggory will get three, and Mr. Krum will get one. Ms. Delacour will then enter, and we will wait to crown a new champion. Obviously this gives you quite the advantage."

Harry shrugged, "Perhaps, but its a maze. Seems more like a game of chance then a opportunity to appear more superior in magical anything."

The Highmaster of Durmstrang snorted, "Perhaps the boy has a better idea for the third task."

Harry glared at the man and his tone was sharp, "Perhaps the boy would like to duel, and solve this in magical combat. Throw all four of us into an arena and the last one standing wins."

This caused Krum to grin viciously and laugh, "I like this plan. Champion Delacour what say you?"

The girl laughed musically, "I think I would just as soon do that then this madness. I am just ready to return home safely. This tournament has proved more vicious and malicious then I ever thought."

The others all took grave looks at this and nodded, while Bagman took the chance to save it all, "It still anyone's game Champions don't give up yet. The third task will be best yet, and you better believe it."

Harry shook his head and began to walk away while he heard Cedric say, "The Quidditch Pitch better be back in perfect condition when I return next year for my final year, or you will be seeing a lot of me in your office Mr. Bagman."

With that all the champions walked off after Harry. They all walked side by side and Cedric spoke, "Guys I know we are all supposed to be in competition with each other, but I have read terrible things about the maze's of the past. Can we all just promise each other that we remember that we aren't each other's enemies?"

Fleur and Viktor nodded, and they all turned to him while Harry said, "I would much rather have the promise that we agree not to kill each other in the maze. People lose there minds in there. I propose we pose a pack here and now. If someone goes down we will do our best to help them, and if we save another champion they just withdraw. I don't want anyone's blood on my hands, and if I could save any of you I would do it in a heart beat. I hope you would all do the same for me."

Viktor immediately said, "Da. I agree."

"Oui." Fleur said.

Cedric just nodded looking pale, "I think-"

Suddenly a loud scream for help came from the woods nearby, and all four wizards went for their wands, and looked towards the border line to see a man in tattered clothes running towards them and Harry was just about to curse the man, and so were the others when he shouted, "WAIT!"

The man kept coming towards them, but Harry lowered his wand, and the others weren't so quick to, but Harry approached the man, "Mr. Crouch what happened to you?"

The others gasped as they recognized the bloody and beaten man, "Dumbledore...Get Dumbledore. My fault. So sorry. Get Dumbledore. My Fault. So Sorry. So Sorry."

Viktor approached the man and whispered to Harry, "Extended exposure to an unforgivable, the Imperious if I had to guess. He doesn't have the same twitching the cruciatas curse has."

Harry ran a quick spell diagnostic on him, "Cedric go get Dumbledore. Fleur cover him just in case. Krum and I will hold this down. Go get help."

The champions didn't need to be told twice as they both bolted towards the castle. Harry however had different plans pulling memories of recent times with Daphne he flicked his wand out, "Expecto Patronum."

A blast of magic erupted from his wand, and a wolf came from it, and Harry spoke quickly, "Sirius we have a situation at Hogwarts. Barty Crouch is here with us and has been attacked. We need help please send the aurors."

With that the wolf darted out towards the distance and Viktor looked at him in wonder, "A Corporeal patornus? Is there nothing you can't do?"

Harry shrugged, "I have never been much good at Astronomy or Math for that matter. Thankfully Neville was gifted in Herbology because I wasn't good at that either."

The boy merely shook his head, when Harry saw movement in the forest, and he shot up, "Who are you what do you want? Identify yourself."

The movement in the woods stopped instantly, and suddenly a familiar voice screamed out, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Both young wizards leaped out of the way, while Harry tried to summon the ground up from under Mr. Crouch to save him, but it was to late. The curse struck the man dead center in the chest and Harry was in shock. He laid on the ground just staring at the man for a second, before jumping to his feet and sprinting into the woods while Krum was yelling out, "Potter!"

However Harry wasn't going to stop. Someone had just murdered Crouch in cold blood right in front of him, and he was too slow and selfish to save the man. It should've been obvious that the curse wasn't meant for him, but he panicked and cost a man his life.

He ran straight into the woods cursing the back of the cloaked man who had the speed of a young man, and was clearly using it to his advantage. He clearly hadn't intended on someone to pursue him however as he was haphazardly throwing shields behind him to protect himself. Harry considered throwing something lethal at the man, but he wanted answers so held himself to not throw an unforgivable at the man, but it wasn't out of the equation.

Before he could decide the man popped out of existence, and Harry knew he had lost the man and crossed the boundaries of the Hogwarts grounds making him swear, and scream in frustration. He ran back where had come, and saw Krum looking worriedly at him, "He got away. Bastard."

Suddenly Dumbledore moving faster than he thought him capable was upon them, "What has happened?"

Harry looked at the man sadly, "An assailant came from the woods he was alone, and threw a killing curse at Mr. Crouch, and we were to late to block it. I chased him into the woods, but the man apparated as soon as we crossed the grounds line...I was too slow to block the curse, and too slow to catch the man."

"What makes you think it was a man?" Dumbledore asked.

Krum answered that, "He had man's voice. Very clear. Very intentional. He wanted us to move. We were definitely not the target."

Harry nodded his head in agreement, "It was a trick, and I fell for it."

Dumbledore sighed as he summoned a black blanket for the man, "The aurors will have to be contacted. This was not your fault Mr. Potter. You did what you could, and even risked your life while trying to chase this very dangerous man."

Harry shrugged, "I just wish I had gotten him."

"That will be my job don't you worry Pup."

Harry turned to see Sirius Black walking on the scene with a team of aurors in blue robes, and Dumbledore scratched his beard, "Sirius my boy, I didn't call for you yet?"

"My Godson sent me a patronus the moment he came upon Crouch. It seems there is quite a story here." Sirius explained, and looked to his Godson for an explanation who sighed and retold the story.

Sirius and Dumbledore both looked puzzled, "He was sorry, and he wanted to speak with you headmaster. I don't understand. What could he have known or seen?"

Dumbledore looked pensively at the dead man before him, and sighed, "I don't know. Only Mr. Crouch could have known is what I am understanding as well. Champions you may go get some rest, and begin to prepare for the third task. I am sure your friends are getting worried about you. We will investigate this matter further, and keep you all updated on what we discover."

Harry nodded, and didn't wait for any more dismissals and left quickly feeling absolutely disgusted with himself.

Over the next few days Harry avoided everyone including Daphne. News had spread quickly about what happened to Crouch, and it was the first death on Hogwarts grounds since Moaning Myrtle in the 1940's, so it was huge news to all of Britain the fact that it was the head of international magical cooperation for the British Ministry of Magic left an uneasy feeling in a lot of people's guts.

Harry had summoned his pensieve from his father, and had been reviewing the memory over and over again trying to think of what he should have done, and what he would do next time. He had to be better. Mr. Crouch was going to tell them something important, and now they would never know, and if it was vital its possible that his information could have saved lives. Harry swore loudly and threw his book across the room when he exited his pensieve for what felt like the hundredth time.

What surprised him however was when Daphne was standing there with her arms crossed looking concerned, "I see you are still throwing a fit."

Harry glared at the girl, "How did you get in here?"

"Anthony let me in, and Dumbledore gave me the password to your quarters." She said as she went and took a seat on his bed.

Harry grumbled, "Glad they all care about my privacy."

"They care much more about your sanity Harry this has to stop. Your guilt of-"

"Don't." Harry said dangerously.

Daphne flinched. Harry had never taken such a tone with her, "This was my fault. I don't care what anyone says, no one can talk me out of it. I have trained my whole life for a situation exactly like that and I failed. What if it had been Neville with me, or Sirius, or YOU! What happens the next time someone throws a killing curse at me, and I just jump out of the way, and one of you get hit. What if you get hit?"

Daphne then understood. It wasn't Mr Crouch that Harry was upset about losing, but it was the fact that it could have been anyone and he couldn't have stopped it. His worst fear of losing people he loved, and she had never seen it more plainly than she did right now.

Daphne stood from the bed and crossed the room taking the boys hands and placing them on her face, "Harry I am here with you today, and alive. You lived, and you learned from that day. You will be ready for something like this if it were to happen again. If it happens to me, then you will stop it. I have no doubt, but you can't let this eat you up. The third task is in just a few weeks, and we need to be preparing you for whatever you will face. I don't want to lose you to this damned tournament no matter how grateful I am that it brought you to me."

Harry looked at the girl in the eyes for a moment, and was lost in her blue eyes, "I am so scared Daph. I can't lose anyone because I was too slow. I can't. I will be faster. I will keep you safe. I will keep them all safe."

"You can't save everyone Harry." Daphne said softly.

His eyes hardened though, and she saw his determination, and she herself questioned if that was true, "But I sure can try."

They held each other's gaze for a moment before Harry kissed the palms of her hands and sighed, "But you are right. Its time to stop hiding."

She smiled at the boy softly, "So what do you think about the third task?"

He smirked wickedly at this question, "I already have a plan."

The young couple talked through the night, and Daphne listened to the young man's plans and couldn't find any faults in it. The young man before her was a tactical genius, but that didn't help that she was worried about him. So many questions have been left unanswered, and she had the worst feeling in her stomach that everything wouldn't go according to plan.

 **(A/N) I struggled with this chapter a lot, but the next one made it worth! Stay tuned.**


	15. Rise of the Champion

**Chapter 15**

Harry awoke with a start. He looked around quickly grabbing his wand and pointing it all over the room looking to block the incoming curse, but nothing came. It was the day of the third task, and he couldn't help but think so much for a good night's sleep.

He had been having the dream of Voldemort rising for the past several months, but they have gotten more and more frequent, and today his scar was burning. He had never had the sensation before he came to Hogwarts, and at first he thought it was the stress of the tournament, but after the first task he could honestly say the stress was nothing compared to the U17 Championship.

The boy swore quietly as he decided to rise from his bed, and figured it was time for the day to begin. It was 6am so he decided to go ahead and head down to the Grounds. Daphne wouldn't be there for another hour to hour and a half, but there was nothing else to do.

As he rose and changed into his workout clothes he silently pondered the day. He was very much ready for this tournament to be over so he could get on with his life, and focus on his training and preparing for the Summer. He was also almost finished with all his parent's extra assignments, and was ready to see them again for some more work. He had been studying spell creation for the past six months, and was very much ready to see if he could put it into action with a few ideas that had been bouncing around in his head.

When he reached the grounds he stretched and took a deep breath breathing in the air. He looked out to the grounds, and smiled as he broke out into a run, and launched himself into the air transfiguring into his animagus side. The powerful 200 pound panther hit the ground, and bounded off into the woods, and decided to go for a last minute exploring adventure, but before he made it to the treeline he heard a gasp, and he turned to see a beautiful blonde girl admiring him from the distance.

Harry slowly trotted towards the girl and sat down directly in front of her, and she tentatively touched him, "You are so beautiful. Will you teach me how to do this? It's such a perfect piece of magic."

Purring quietly Harry transfigured himself back to his human form, and rose to his feet quickly to be face to face with her, "What are you doing down here so early? I thought you'd be asleep for another few hours."

The girl gave a strained smile, but shook her head, "I was too nervous to sleep, and I thought you might be too. I was sitting in the Slytherin Common Room, and I don't know I just thought I would run into you this morning."

Harry smiled at the girl and put a hand on her cheek, "I am glad you came. I would love to teach you the animagus transformation we can work on it this summer. I warn you not everyone has the gift though. I think we have lots to do this summer if we are going to get you on the circuit, and work on your animagus transformation."

The girl grinned as he started walking towards the Dark Forest, and she followed him bumping him on the shoulder, "Sounds like we will be spending lots of time together this Summer."

Harry rolled his eyes slightly, "I know I just can't seem to get rid of you."

Daphne huffed slightly and pushed him causing both to laugh, "I am just kidding you know I love you."

This made the girl stop and look at him, and he stopped too, but didn't look back at her; instead he just looked out towards the woods. Forward. That's all he wanted to do in life right now was go forward, and he had no interest in what was behind him, except making sure the girl standing next to him kept up. She wanted to comment, but all she did was smile and walk up to him, "So are we going to duel today? Or are you going to save your strength?"

The boy let out a slight sigh of relief that she wasn't going to tease him for his slip, or grill him if he really did. It was something he very much liked and respected about the girl she didn't really pry, "I definitely have some time to drill a little bit today. Maybe we will avoid the full out duels, but I will think of this as a warm up. I want to work timing with you today. It's important and a fundamental skill we will work on at the Ilvermorny Dueling Camp this summer."

Daphne listened with rapt attention, and watched Harry as he went a few paces over and began to explain, "So what I want you to do is watch how I throw stunning curses, and what I want you to do is try and time me and shoot first, or immediately after. I want an instant response. For example, throw three stunning curses at me okay."

Daphne nodded and did as she was told. She was shocked that as soon as she was getting ready to fire the second curse she was disarmed. How had he done that? She stared at the boy in surprise, but he merely grinned, "Useful right? Doesn't really work on super elite duelist because they are constantly using a different spell variety, but on the regular country circuit I think you can catch lots of people off guard with it. Something I want you to understand is that in the U15 divisions most of your duels will last 1-3 minutes long, and there will be some tournaments that you duel 5-10 to times in a day so you need to make sure you are beating the scrubs as quickly as possible so you can conserve your energy. Do you understand?"

Daphne shook her head in understanding, "I don't understand why don't I see anyone else use this tactic?"

Harry shrugged, "Most people don't have the speed to execute it, and others don't have the patience to learn it. Usually you will get stung more times then you get it especially as you are practicing it at the beginning. I think you are good enough to get it pretty quick though. Just be prepared that every weekend we are going to be competing. Most of the time I will save my energy and just coach you, but for the big ones I will fight. You understand right?"

In understanding she merely nodded up and down and tried to focus on her goal, and when Harry asked if she was ready she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Yes. Let us begin."

Her first few tries resulted in a few stinging hexes hitting her hands, but then she started to get it after a little bit, and then she was timing him almost instantly, and a few times before he could even get the curse off, and suddenly Harry called the practice with a smile, "I would love to keep practicing, but you are going to hurt me accidentally, and that would be tough to explain later."

She smiled in pride, and Harry kissed her on the head when they got in close and threw his arm around her, "You are a quick study. Thank Merlin. I don't know if I would have patience for a slow learner."

Daphne laughed, "I think you would be great regardless. You have a real knack for teaching you know? Maybe you should consider it one day when you are done with your serious dueling, training, and accomplishments. Who knows maybe you will be a headmaster one day."

Harry merely rolled his shoulders in uncertainty, "I don't know about all that. But it would be something. Want to go for a little walk before we go back and face the day?"

Daphne grinned, "I thought you would never ask."

The two separated a little bit, and held hands as they walked towards the black lake. They had walked around most of the lake before Daphne asked, "You promise to be careful tonight right? It's just one more task, and then you will be safe for the Summer. Please I don't care if you win or not I just want you to come back safely."

Harry nodded taking a serious look, "I am going to end this as fast as possible. I am going to just stick to the plan, and it should all be fine. I promise you I will do my best to be careful."

"I just have a really bad feeling about this. I think whatever the plan to get you in these tasks is about to become very clear to us, and it could be in the worst way possible. I don't mean to make you anymore nervous, but I want you as sharp as can be, and on your toes at all times. I think your plan is pretty solid as long as you can perform the magic side of it. Just please don't let that lure you into a false sense of security. Be ready for anything." Daphne said carefully.

Harry merely looked ahead, and said nothing. Mostly because he agreed with her. So far there had been no interference in the tasks, and he was starting to have that brief sense of security that some fanboy or girl entered him into this tournament, but what if it was a sinister plot, and it all came ahead tonight. It was a definite possibility, "I will do everything I can to come back to you Daph I promise. Just be ready to celebrate tonight okay?"

The girl smiled, and nodded kissing him on the cheek as they completed their circle, and went back to the castle and went there separate ways to shower, and meet back at breakfast.

The uneasy feeling lasted throughout the day, and when lunch came around Dumbledore told Harry that his family was coming to meet with him before the third task as per tradition, and when he met with Daphne at lunch the Flamels, Sirius, The Greengrasses, and his friends from the dueling circuit had returned.

Many hugs and greetings went around between the friends and family, while even Daphne was able to join in on the hugs with a few as she was also glad to see her boyfriends friends and family along with her own. Harry went to Mr. Greengrass with a smile, "Thank you for coming out to support me. I think you guys will really enjoy the show."

Cyrus Greengrass smiled happily, "Well I made a bet on you, and I am pretty confident I am going to be up a few galleons by the end of the day so I hope I enjoy the show."

The women rolled their eyes at this and Harry chimed in quietly, "You are getting that money I can almost guarantee it. Hope they offered you pretty good odds."

The man sighed sadly, "Not as good as I hoped, but it's not bad. Make a little bit of chump change. So you have a plan I assume?"

Harry laughed this time, "Your daughter might not have even have let me into the maze without one, but yes I have a plan, and I am confident."

Sirius spoke at this one, "I hope you will let me in on this one so I can offer some advice this time, I am not sure I like that Daphne has replaced me as your confidant."

Daphne came up to Harry's side and allowed him to wrap an arm around her saying, "I am just that much prettier Sirius. Sorry."

This caused the man to roll his eyes, but smile as he saw his Godson smile when his girlfriend kissed him on the cheek, and offered the man a drink, along with handing his godson one as well. Nicholas and Pernelle watched with amusement, and genuinely liked their son's choice in women, and just bemusedly watched their antics. Nicholas came up to his son and squeezed his shoulders, "You know your mother and I worry about you, and if you need any last minute help or advise you know you can ask right?"

"I know dad, but I have a plan, and Daphne is the only one that knows. Just trust me, and sit back and watch the show. I can promise you it's going to be amusing, and...lets just say it will be over quick." The boy said a wicked grin.

This led to some interesting looks towards the boy, but he said nothing else on the matter, and began talking with Mr. Greengrass on the upcoming Summer, "I am telling you it would be great for Daphne. The program is really good, and lots of famous witches and wizards from all over come in for the camp, along with all my friends here who are all champion winning level duelists. It's too bad this is the first year she would be able to go, had she been going for years she would be a national champion by now I am sure of it."

Michael who was standing nearby chimed in, "No doubt Lord Greengrass your daughter has some serious talent. Our friend Sierra duels on the international circuit, and Daphne stood with her for nearly five minutes, which I can assure you some adults would struggle to do. The camp is hosted at my school, and it is super safe, and a lot of fun, along with a great chance to make international contacts."

Lyoto who was just hardly listening said, "It's true she surprised all of us that day. She was great."

Lord Greengrass beamed upon his daughter with a bit of pride and said, "Well what is the cost and length of the camp?"

Harry waved his hand, "If she goes with me I will pay for it all. Assuming she is allowed to duel on the local circuits when we get back then she will be dueling as one of my duelists, and I would be happy to sponsor her on this trip, and maybe even try and let this begin my recruitment process to bring some duelist onto a team I want to make. The camp is for two weeks though, but it's Monday through Friday, and then we have a weekend to hang out and have fun in America, and then another week of training. It's long days, but it's a lot of fun."

Lord Greengrass smiled at the offer, "That would be excellent, yes I think I could see the benefits of this, if nothing else it would bring her some great international contacts. I bless this so far, and I would love to see the fliers just to confirm what you all are saying."

Sierra came over at that point saying, "Michael will be running a portion of the camp this year since he is a pro now, and I brought a bunch of fliers for him to give out, and try and bring in some more Hogwarts students to it next year. I will make sure you get one before you leave tonight."

The man nodded with a smile, and the time flew by and Dumbledore announced that it was time for the Champions to head down to the task, and for the schools to head down shortly. Harry stood up as did the other champions, and applause went up through the hall, and Harry hi-fived his friends and gave some hugs to his family and a kiss to Daphne as he left the hall and followed the other champions down to the pitch.

As the four walked alone towards the grounds Harry asked, "Nervous?"

No one said anything for a moment until Krum said, "Yes. I have heard terrible stories of this final task, and I can only hope they have fixed it after all these years."

Fleur nodded, "The stories I have read in the books have kept me up these past few nights, but I am as ready as I can be."

Cedric however sighed, "I am just ready for it to be over."

Harry just nodded and silently thought that the tournament was basically already over unless something crazy and unexpected happened.

As they reached the built stadium there were four different doors that were labeled with the champions name, and the group all gave one last smile, and wishes of good luck and went into their own sections, and entered their private locker rooms before it all began.

When Harry entered his locker room he began pacing. The plan was set, he just had to execute it. There wasn't even a reason to be nervous or anticipate it. The tournament was over and the other champions just didn't know it yet.

A few minutes later Sirius entered the tent with Nicholas, and the two were looking grim as they stepped in, "They are ready for you Harry."

Harry nodded and started walking towards the door, when Nicholas stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "Be careful out there son. This task is designed to test you."

"Don't worry dad I think you will be pleasantly surprised. This task is in the bag, and the magic I will control is going to shock the world." Harry said confidently, and both men stared at the boy with a bit of admiration.

Sirius spoke calmly, "Good luck out there Pup go show the world what you can do."

Harry nodded and both men put a hand on his shoulder as they marched out into the tunnel. They slowly walked out of the tunnel towards the light, and when they made it to the light the cheering started and it was thunderous. Harry held both hands up as he walked out to the middle, and both his father and Sirius let him go, and watched him go forward with pride.

Ludo Bagman was announcing the task, "There is the leader of the tournament, and our youngest participant Harry James Potter. He has dominated the first two task, and we are all looking forward to seeing his final performance on this momentous occasion."

When Harry walked over to the other champions they all gave him nods, and he just grinned. Dumbledore then gave the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming. This is the final task of the Triwizard Tournament and the task is simple. Find the center of the maze, and that is where the cup will be. Good luck to our champions, and may the best witch or wizard win!"

With this in mind Dumbledore motioned for Harry to step towards the maze, "Mr. Potter is in first place, and he gets a five minute head start. At the sound of the cannon."

The cannon went off immediately, and instead of running like everyone thought he would he merely drew his wand and stared at the maze defiantly. The cheering stopped after a few seconds and the confusion set in, but Harry flicked his wand towards the hedges saying, "Incendio."

A jet of fire flew from his wand and it washed over the hedges, but when the fire subsided however the hedges were completely unharmed. Ludo Bagman announced, "I hope that isn't the only plan Potter had for this task. The hedges are enchanted to be fire resistant, and he will need something much more clever than that to get through this task. His advantage and clock is ticking away, but he has not even entered the maze yet."

Harry smirked and began drawing a slight pattern with his wand, and drew a rune in the air that created flames in the air, and suddenly he pointed his wand at the maze, and spoke calmly, "Fienfire."

A jet of dark red fire then shot out of his wand and the crowd gasped in horror at what he was attempting. However the fire was still not big enough, and Harry watched in shock as the hedges resisted his power, but then his eyes squinted in determination, and stopped the fire making it disappear. Many were shocked that he called it back, and even more were surprised that he made it stop, but that was nothing compared to what he did next. He then closed his eyes to focus for only a moment before he opened his eyes and screamed out lashing out with both wands causing an eruption of fire to shoot towards the maze instantly torching the thing to the ground and he held the flame easily as it spread through the maze at a ridiculous speed and tore through it all with ease. A minute passed and Harry summoned all the flames to the sky when he saw a glow towards the middle of the maze come, and then brought it all to him causing many to scream in the crowd, but he had activated the rune that was floating in front of him since the beginning, and the Rune lit up and absorbed all the fire.

Suddenly the maze was gone, and Harry could see the middle of the maze as he gasped for breath. Suddenly Ludo Bagman came back on, "Incredible. Never have I seen someone control the dark fire like that before. Even in Headmaster Dumbledore's prime I am unsure he could have planned something so brilliant. Potter has a minute and thirty seconds left, and all he has to do is walk in a straight line and grab the cup for his victory. What a tactic, what a display of power and magic, what a champion!"

Harry held his hands up as the cheering began as the other champions stared in shock, as the boy began marching towards the middle of the maze. It didn't even take him a minute to get it, and when he reached the cup he took a deep sigh of relief. He saw a magical creature begin to approach though and wasted no more time admiring the shiny cup, and once he grabbed it he felt the familiar feel of the tug at his stomach, and he warped back to the front of the maze where people were cheering. Harry held his hands up in celebration and readied himself to be embraced by Sirius and the others, but instead he felt the tug again, and he whirled his way a long way, and when he landed the Portkey went flying out of his hand, and it disappeared.

He quickly drew both wands, and looked around. He was in a graveyard by the looks of it, and it was really cold. He looked around worried. Where was he?

His adrenaline was pumping, and suddenly someone stepped out of the house nearby, and he heard a voice, "Bring down the boy."

Suddenly he heard a yell, "CRUCIO!"

Harry however was quick to dodge and spur into action at the first site of a spell. If it was a duel someone wanted it was a duel they would get. Harry quickly began firing his long range spells at the man he could not quite yet see, but suddenly a pop came from nearby, and Harry gasped throwing up the nearby ground to absorb another torture curse, but the sick voice he heard before commanded, "Peter summon our back up now!"

Suddenly two flashes of green light came flying towards Harry and he was forced to now fight the attacker who flung the killing curses at him in rapid succession, and before he knew it over a dozen apparation pops rang throughout the graveyard, and the sick voices commanded, "Take the boy down alive."

This time Harry's eyes widened as dozens of spells flew towards him, as he threw up a giant shield, but it did not stop the red torture curse that struck him as he fell to the ground screaming in pain. It was unlike anything he ever felt. It felt like he was being burned all over his body. He quickly remembered he could apparate, and attempted but with a booming pop sound he landed back on the ground screaming in further pain.

 **{A/N} Have a few already written chapters left, but this update was a long time coming. Hope you all enjoyed, and prepare for the showdown in the graveyard next week! Cheers.**

After a few moments the sickly voice laughed, "Welcome Harry Potter. I had not intended for things to happen this way, but it seems you and my followers will get the chance to witness my resurrection!"


	16. Never Surrender

Chapter 16

Harry knew that he was in trouble. He was shaking badly from the effects of the cruciatus curse and Peter Pettigrew had tied him to a statue, and disarmed him leaving him at the mercy of just over a dozen Death Eaters.

Watching in morbid fascination as Wormtail of the Marauders performed the dark ritual. Watching the moment live his hindsight told him that this was the darkest magic of the century that Cadmus the Vampire had told him of months ago. This ritual must have been very specific, and it probably needed the full moon, and probably a dozen other factors that had to go wrong for this to work tonight. The whole thing was rigged from start to finish the question was how did it happen? Who was their man on the inside who put him here in this situation?

Harry tried to listen to the ritual, but he had no idea what was happening until Peter approached him saying, "Flesh of the enemy taken, forcibly."

Shouting in pain as the knife slashed through his arm Harry swore at the man violently, and suddenly he wasn't the only one shouting as he saw Peter had slashed off his own hand off into the cauldron, and shortly following it with dropping the sickly voice that belonged to Lord Voldemort into the cauldron, and Harry watched in horror as the cauldron disappeared and a strange creature warped before him, and a robed humanoid creature appeared. He was lacking a nose, and was a very white creature, and he looked like a monster or something right out of his nightmares. Harry's scar burned worse than it ever had before. It felt like his head was splitting open.

Voldemort took a deep breath and spoke in a commanding tone, "My wand Wormtail."

Peter quickly scrambled through his robes with one hand and dug out the wand and bowed in the direction of his lord as he handed the wand to the man.

Voldemort sighed contentedly, and then began strutting across the graveyard, "Thirteen years its been yet you all stand before me like it was yesterday. Not any of you troubled yourselves to find me."

He then went on naming Death Eaters as he ripped their mask off from their face causing them to grunt in pain, and fall to their knees, "Many are missing tonight. More than I anticipated. Some of course remain loyal to me as ever, and resting in Azkaban prison they will be rescued and rewarded above all. I seem to be missing three formerly faithful followers. I feel two of which we have lost forever, but where is Jugson? Such a loyal followers I never would have expected him to be a... Something to say Malfoy?"

Malfoy grunted out, "Jugson was killed in a raid."

Voldemort growled, "In a recent raid? I know he was alive when I first came back to my deteriorated form. He was alive and that was less than a year ago. I was not aware you were commanding my Death Eaters Malfoy."

The only unnamed man stepped forward, "Malfoy in all his insolence decided to hold a raid at the World Cup. I told you about it my lord, but I was unaware of who had been killed."

Voldemort shouted in anger, "Then you ran from the sign of my symbol. You fight in MY uniform, with MY mark on your arm, yet you run from my symbol. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The killing curse flew from the man's wand and struck Lucius Malfoy in the chest effectively ending his life, "Disgraceful. Now who was it that killed Jugson? He was a talented fighter if I remember correctly, quite powerful in his own right, who is it I must strike my vengeance against?"

No one however spoke, and Voldemort growled out, "WHO KILLED HIM? DOES NO ONE KNOW?"

Harry spat out defiantly, "I killed him."

Silence followed the bold statement, and Voldemort strode towards him, "Harry I had nearly forgotten you were there. You said you killed my loyal follower?"

Knowing he was dead anyways he chuckled madly, "Exploding hex to the face. It was all too easy. He died fighting, but he was too slow for a fourteen year old boy."

Voldemort looked passive for a moment then did something the last thing everyone in the Graveyard expected, he laughed, "Your power is not as exaggerated as I thought then. I am impressed. However I think it is time the world knows how you survived that night thirteen years ago. You see it was old magic. Something I should have foreseen. When dear sweet Lily Potter sacrificed herself she enacted a ritual that was on the crib, but I missed it. I was a fool, and so close to victory I became short sighted. The curse rebounded, and it forced my spirit to flee. However I have become closer to immortality than anyone ever has before me. Before I couldn't touch you Potter, but now I can touch you!"

With that the man pressed his finger to the scar on his forehead, and he screamed in pain that resembled the cruciatus curse. He let go shortly after, and Harry feared the man would next strike him with a killing curse, but instead he flicked his wand around and made the skeleton Grim Reaper-like character let him go, and he fell to the ground, "You have power Potter, and I respect that. Join me. Pledge your allegiance, and I believe you would make a powerful apprentice of mine in the Dark Arts. Swear your fealty, and I will allow you to return to your friends and loved ones, and you will just have to come back to me, and I will begin your training. What do you say Potter? Join me."

Harry looked around the Graveyard and tried to think of a solution, but saw none. He was going to die here. He was never going to see Daphne again, because he would never swear fealty to anyone, much less his parents' killers, "No. I will die on my feet before I live on my knees."

Voldemort however just gave him a smile, "I understand, and part of me respects you for your answer. I am admittedly disappointed never have I sensed such young power, and perhaps you could have even rivaled myself one day. I will grant you your final wish however Potter. We shall duel, and you shall die on your feet just as your parents did before you. Wormtail give him his wands."

Wormtail looked disturbed by the order, but did as he was told. When he reached Harry the boy looked hatefully at the man who had gotten his family killed, and as soon as his wands touched his hands he gave the man a disturbing smile, "For my parents. Avada Kedavra!"

A green light shot out point blank and struck the man in the chest, and a scream or rage was heard, and a bolt of green light flew towards him as he rolled out of the way, popped back up, and the duel began. Harry had never faced an opponent with such speed, such skill, such power. It was like fighting someone with his style on steroids. Not even the headmaster had dueled him this hard, and with the killing curses being thrown it was a deadly dance. Suddenly it stopped and Voldemort screamed out, "You cost me my servant. I offer you a chance at life. I offer you a chance to die with honor, but you killed my servant. Now you shall die in pain. Crucio!"

Harry saw the curse coming, and moved, throwing up a piece of the ground absorbing the curse, and banishing it at the man. The duel went on and on, and every time someone tried to interfere Voldemort would blast them back, "NO! He is mine to finish. Do nothing."

Harry knew he was in trouble. The pace of this duel was quickly getting out of his league, and he was not going to survive this encounter if he didn't come up with something brilliant and fast. He was trying to think he was a prodigy tactics fighter, and he needed a moment to put a plan together, but he didn't have a moment. Suddenly a killing curse came at him so fast he had no choice, but to dodge and was suddenly hiding behind a tombstone that was hit with another killing curse, "Don't be a coward Potter you have done so well come back and die like a man. I want to see the lights leave your eyes."

Harry thought quickly, and began looking around for a possible escape route. He knew he had seconds before the Dark Lord would be upon him, and he was standing back up when he saw a crack in the sky. He gasped in shock realizing what the crack was, and he knew exactly what he had to do to get out alive.

He jumped back to his feet and went on the offensive throwing wide spread curses, and even attempted to summon fiendfire, but it was deflected by the Dark Lord easily, and he threw another trifecta of curses all of which Harry dodged, and the crack in the sky was getting bigger and he internally jumped with joy realizing how close he was.

A short step was miscalculated however and he was hit with the torture curse, and he knew he was in trouble. This was the third time he was hit with the curse tonight, and he would be knocking on death's door soon. The pain subsided shortly and he began shaking on the ground trying to find his feet.

Voldemort laughed lightly as he came to the boy, "Bow to Death my old friend. Bow to Death Harry Potter."

Harry couldn't move, but spat at the man's feet, "Go fuck yourself."

Voldemort clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Now, Now Harry that isn't what I asked. I said BOW!"

Harry felt the Imperious Curse wash over him, but he fought it off easily and stood on his feet. He pretended like he was going to bow, but instead he flipped his wand at the man, "CONFRIGNO!"

The spell blasted from his wand and Voldemort redirected it easily as it took out half of his death eaters, throwing them to the ground and hitting the wall behind him. Voldemort screamed in rage and tossed a mighty killing curse that Harry dove towards the ground to avoid, and the curse kept going until it struck a nearby force field, and the sky shimmered, and Harry sighed in relief as he apparated away not even waiting for the scream of rage that would surely follow.

He landed back in the stadium on his back twitching in pain, and he didn't even move when the gasp was heard around the stadium. He had to have been gone for over an hour, but people were still there. A scream of his name and a familiar presence was at his side putting her hands on his cheeks, "Harry you are alive!"

Harry whispered softly, "Barely love. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen though. A site for sore eyes no doubt."

The girl laughed, and she embraced him tightly and felt wetness hit his shirt knowing the girl was crying. He wrapped an arm around her as he felt another familiar presence, "Harry what happened?"

Harry growled, "Please step back Headmaster. Allow me my moment with the girl I love. I didn't think I would ever get this chance again, and I ask you to back away."

Daphne separated from the boy embarrassed, and Harry glared at the man, "Never mind. Voldemort...he is back."

The British Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was near the two when he heard Harry say that and gasped, "Nonsense. The boy is clearly delusional. He was held under the cruciatus curse by Alastor Moody."

Harry looked at the man strangely, "Why would Professor Moody hold me under the torture curse?"

Daphne spoke softly to the boy, "When you disappeared Professor Moody laughed like a maniac and screamed out the dark marks curse, and said he would send your body back before he disappeared."

Looking to the sky he noticed the Dark Mark, and flinched visibly, "The unknown man in the Graveyard. Voldemort identified all of them, but the one man who arrived late. It must have been the Moody Impostor. Moody was certainly not in the graveyard. He must have been under the effects of the Polyjuice potion. I would have sensed a constant transfiguration, or any other kind of magic. Professor we must search the grounds for the real Professor, he must have been kept close by if our mystery guest was continuously making Polyjuice potion after all the shelf life of such potion isn't very long."

Dumbledore looked at the boy in surprise, amazed at his deduction, and quickly shouted at a nearby auror to go investigate the Quarters of Alastor Moody, and that he would be along shortly.

Sirius was the next to approach Harry carefully, "Pup you look like hell. What happened tonight?"

"Not now Padfoot, but I got him. I got the rogue Marauder. Only two remaining." Harry said sharply.

Sirius looked at the boy in surprise, but looked away saying nothing more clearly, overwhelmed with emotion, and confused by his Godson's words, and how he came to be here.

His other friends were staying a respectful distance, but listening to every word he was saying with shock. Harry whispered to Daphne, "I am in so much pain, please help me sit up so I can see my family."

Daphne immediately agreed, "Michael, Lyoto, over here I need your help!"

Both boys immediately answered her call and she explained what Harry wanted, and they helped him sit up, while Sierra rolled her eyes in exasperation, "If no one is going to heal him or help him I will do it."

She quickly drew her wand and began casting diagnostics and basic healing charms on the boy gasping at the results of each, "You have been hit by the torture curse at least three times. Merlin Harry what happened tonight?"

Nicholas and Pernelle finally approached the boy having listened to every word he had said so far, and Nicholas sat next to him on the other side of Daphne, "Are you okay son?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't think I will ever be okay again, but I am thankful to be here with all of you."

Pernelle crouched in front of her son with Sierra and began helping the girl not wishing to see the pain in her son's face just yet.

Many other people tried to approach, but Michael and Lyoto had drawn their wands at this point and swore that they would curse the next person who tried to get through auror or not.

A few minutes passed and the confusion of the crowd was growing. Dumbledore was standing nearby looking on the scene wondering what should be done next, but did nothing deciding patience was the best option. Harry had so many pieces to the puzzle, but he still didn't understand. Who was the mystery person? Why did it all happen the way it did? The attack at the World Cup, his name coming out of the Goblet, the Death of Mr. Crouch how did it all work out? As he thought upon it further an ugly picture began to paint itself, but he was beginning to understand. After a few minutes Harry tried to stand on his own two feet, but he was shaky, and Daphne got on an arm under him, and helped him up, "Take it easy Harry."

Ignoring the girl he stood on his feet, and walked over to the headmaster with her at his side, "It was all a trap. From the beginning. The puzzle was huge, and we played right into it at every step of the way, but I think if you and I can talk we can figure it out. You have pieces, and I have pieces. I also have a memory now of the man and you may recognize him."

Dumbledore nodded, "I wish to get you to my office as soon as possible, but first the hospital wing."

Harry shook it off, "I want answers Headmaster, and outside of the torture curse I was not damaged or struck. Wormtail slashed my arm open, but Sierra already healed that. I want answers."

Dumbledore looked at him, and then at his worried family, and nodded, "Go speak with your family I will call for Fawkes."

Harry nodded and Daphne said nothing, but, "I want to be there during this meeting. I have to know what you went through tonight."

Nodding sadly Harry said, "No secrets. No broken promises."

The girl stopped walking and just held him tight, "Thank you for always keeping your promises and coming back to me."

Harry wanted to cry in the girl's arms, and he would, but now wasn't the time. He went to his mother who was standing, and he wanted to cry even more, but instead he brought the woman into an impossibly tight hug, "I am alive tonight mum, and nothing is going to change that."

"Such challenges face you son. I am so sorry we didn't keep you safer. I am sorry we didn't keep our promise to you." Pernelle cried softly.

Harry separated from the woman with a sad smile, "You are the only reason I am alive tonight. Your teachings of wards is the only reason I made it out. It is a tale, and we have to go to Dumbledore's office and learn the truth. You and Dad, you don't have to involve yourselves if you don't-"

"That mad man attacked our son. This family is at war now son, and nothing will change that. We will follow you." Nicholas said putting a hand on his wife's shoulder speaking for both of them.

Harry grateful accepted their pledge and went to his friends. Sierra who was the first to embrace him, "Thank God."

He patted the girl on the back and ran a soothing hand in circles around her back, "It's going to be okay."

Neville, Lyoto, and Michael were all standing nearby watching and waiting to be addressed, and when Harry made it to them he sighed, "I have to go to Dumbledore's and show him what happened. The world needs to know what happened. The Minister, my parents, and others will watch what happened. You don't need to see though it isn't your fight. We can all speak tomorrow. Thank you for your help tonight."

The boys all looked determined at their friend. Neville spoke, "We all need to see this Harry. We went through hell watching Daphne...watching her have to come to the possible terms of you not coming out of the maze. I don't speak for everyone, but nothing could convince me to leave your side. Your parents said it right. That mad man attacked my friend, and my family is now at war.."

It was clear the others agreed with him, and he nodded sadly, while he approached the Greengrasses who had stayed respectfully back, "Lord Greengrass you should see this. You have the right due to our situation."

The man nodded silently and his wife said nothing at his side. Sirius was standing nearby and came over and whispered into his ear, "Dumbledore is sending Amelia Bones, and the Minister to the castle. If you are ready you and Daphne can go with Fawkes."

Harry merely nodded, and gave a look to Dumbledore who held up a hand and the phoenix appeared, and flew towards Harry and Daphne and landed on his shoulder allowing the two to disappear.

When the warmth stopped surrounding them Daphne looked around, "I have never been here before."

Harry spoke softly reaching for a nearby chair, "I have only been here once."

The two sat in silence for a moment, but Daphne never let go of the boy's hand and he spoke to her quietly, "I think we are going to face trouble tonight Love. When your parents see this they are going to try and take you away from me. I don't know if there is anything we can do. I am sorry. Once they see this though I fear the worst."

Daphne looked worried for a moment, before a look of determination crossed her face, "I will make them listen. You just focus on convincing our nation's leaders from burying their heads in the sand, which I fear will be quite the task."

Harry trusted the girl so he spoke of other things, "A moment happened in the Graveyard where I thought I was going to die. I thought I was never going to see you again, but I never gave up. I fought my way back to you. I will never stop fighting for that Daphne."

The girl looked deep into his eyes in that moment, and a tear came to her eye, "I love you Harry."

As soon as she said that the door opened, and people entered the room by the bundle, and Harry felt his courage come back at her words. He felt invincible and he could do this. When Dumbledore arrived he summoned his pensieve and powered up some of the wards to allow the memory to be projected around the room, and the games began.

In the presence of the Minister, the head of the aurors, his friends, and his family they all witnessed his epic struggle. His fight against the Dark Lord and his defiance of the impossible. When Voldemort rose everyone gasped, and Kendra Greengrass even looked away in horror. Daphne clung to Harry and never took her eyes off the memory version of him the whole time. She watched calculating, and worriedly somehow thinking he wasn't going to make it.

When the impostor showed up Dumbledore and many others grumbled about the impossible. When Harry struck Wormtail dead everyone glanced at him, but he ignored them all. It was life or death, and he wanted vengeance for his family. No one had the right to judge him for that.

When the memory ended everyone was shocked to silence, so he spoke, "We must fight him. A fourteen year old boy stood in this memory tonight and I defied him. If I can do it anyone can. Now who was it Dumbledore? Who was responsible for all of this?"

Dumbledore broke the silence, "Barty Crouch Jr. It all makes sense."

No one said a word as Dumbledore sat back in his chair, "Barty defied us all. I will have to look into it, but I have a theory. It is undoubtedly him however. I believe that Barty Crouch Sr. made a switch. You see Mrs. Crouch was a very sick woman just over a year ago, and she died around the same time that Barty Crouch Jr. supposedly had. I believe that Barty switched his son with his wife on her deathbed most likely as her final request, and then held him captive somehow. Around the World Cup he must have lost control of him, and he returned to his master. He cast the dark mark at the World Cup, and somehow managed to get the better of Alastor Moody and became his impostor all year. He entered young Harry into the tournament under Lord Voldemort's orders. From there the rest is history."

Harry looked at the man and nodded, "It was so obvious. The man was suspicious, but we all missed it. I wish I had met Alastor Moody before I started here. I would have recognized a different magical signature. Son of a-"

He stopped himself and took a deep breath, "He was your friend for years, Dumbledore how did you not know?"

Everyone else was still shocked to silence, and the man looked sullen, "All I can say is I am sorry my boy. I am not infallible. I knew something was off with him all year, but I had no idea...If I had any idea... He was forgetful of certain situations, and he handled others surprisingly, but then he would do something so very Alastor and all my suspicion would be erased."

Ameila Bones then shook her head, "He had not answered my letters all year. I was suspicious too, but I just assumed he was busy. He avoided me at the Yule Ball. I should've known something was going on."

Fudge shook his head, "13 years of peace, and all ruined in one night. What do we do?"

"We fight." Harry said, taking all the eyes in the room, "We have too. If we fight and stand now then maybe we can stop some of his followers from joining him. If we wait. If we hesitate we will be dead within the next two years I can guarantee it. I have fought with powerful witches and wizards my whole life, but I have never seen anything like this. Weak people flock to power, and people will flock to him if we show the slightest sign of weakness."

Fudge shook his head, "I am not cut out for this. I am not-"

"Then resign." Harry spat, "We cannot lose this. Too many people have lost their lives to this mad man. If you truly won't stand against him then resign tomorrow. I will personally make sure you are taken care of for the rest of your life if you step down and let someone bold step in."

Amelia Bones spoke softly, "That's bribing a public official."

"Then extradite me back to France, and Voldemort can be your problem without the Potter, Black, Flamel wealth." Harry said viciously, and Amelia knew she should've just kept quiet.

Cyrus Greengrass spoke next, "I have seen enough. I am sorry Mr. Potter, but we will be leaving you here. I ask that you not contact my daughter after this. You are merely too dangerous for her."

Before Harry could speak Daphne stood, "No. I am not a coward father. I will not leave his side just because that mad man is after him, nor will I leave him because anyone else told me too."

Cyrus glared at his daughter, "You will do as you're told."

Daphne shook her head, "No."

The man glared at his daughter, and then said, "Come or I will cast you from the family. You will obey me."

"Do it. I am not a coward. I will not run from this. I will not run from the boy that I love. You may say we are too young for that, but I remind you he has saved my life three times, and he could just call any of those life debts in, but he hasn't. I feel our magic is connected now. You can't do this. If you do I will leave the family myself." Daphne said defiantly.

Everyone stared at her in shock, and even Harry said, "Daph, don't."

The look she gave him silenced him immediately, but nothing else was said while father and daughter locked eyes. Finally the man sighed, "Very well. I see you are adamant. Lord Black do you think we could speak on getting better wards, and moving into your alliance. I fear that if my daughter defies the Dark Lord and openly sides with young Mr. Potter here then we might as well declare our alliance with your families and reap the benefits. I fear we are going to be dragged into this war regardless."

Harry spoke confidently, "I think you have seen my abilities Lord Greengrass and know that I will protect your daughter with everything I have. If nothing else I can escape a bad situation. She will be safe with me. I swear it. I also have some big plans and moves to make in response to this that I think you will appreciate, but first I need to heal, and then we will go off on a rampage of political maneuvers."

Fudge remained silent, and Amelia Bones watched the room carefully, "My department will begin the investigation, and we will make Voldemort the most wanted man in the world by dawn."

Harry gave the woman a nod, "Then let us play Madame Bones. We have a game to play."

With that she walked out of the room with Fudge following behind her sullenly. This just left the Flamel's, Dumbledore, Neville, Michael, Sierra, Lyoto, and the Greengrasses with their young champion. Dumbledore sighed, "I think it is time to retire, and think about our next steps in the coming war. Sirius contact the old crowd. I think it is time to bring the old group back together."

Sirius nodded, "I can do that."

Dumbledore looked to Harry, "What will you do next Harry?"

Harry thought for a moment before saying, "I will fight. I will enlist at Hogwarts next year, and train while also watching out for Daphne, and my friends. I believe that if Voldemort were to approach the castle and we were both to duel him Headmaster we could take him down. If nothing else I can hold him for a few minutes I proved that tonight while you do some obscure magic to take him out. He won't dare attack us both. I think together along with extra help we can make Hogwarts safe. My parents will be safe at the Manor. The wards are literally impenetrable with hundreds of years of additions. I don't need to worry about them. I will also travel abroad to stay safe for the Summer, and enter Daphne on the American Dueling Circuit, and only bring her back for the qualifier and the National Championship which I will ensure the security is top of the line. Also as a new Triwizard Champion I am legally an adult, and I will ensure that I can obtain my Lordships and deal with whatever the consequences are. With the death of Lucius Malfoy I will approach Draco and tempt him with an alliance which will allow us to form a massive political blockade. That will allow me to enforce some anti death eaters laws, and hopefully make a difference."

Everyone looked at him in shock when Daphne asked, "When did you start planning all this?"

"The moment you got back into my arms."

The girl blushed, and some of the room's occupants smiled at the two. Harry then spoke again, "But for now I need to rest. Lord Greengrass will you allow Daphne to accompany me to the Hospital Wing for a few hours so we can speak, and I can rest comfortably for a short while?"

Lord Greengrass nodded sadly, "Yes. I hope you will consider your options with my daughter with all the decisions you have made tonight. You have made many adult decisions, and I ask that you perhaps consider an adult option with Daphne. That is all I have to say on the matter."

Harry knew what the man wanted, and honestly at the moment he was thinking why the hell not. However he knew he could feel differently tomorrow when he woke up in a different world. With that however the two took their dismissal and Harry hugged his parents, Godfather, friends, and left the room to go to the Hospital Wing.

They walked through the castle silently as curfew had passed a few hours ago. When they made it the Hospital Wing Madame Pomfrey was waiting, but said nothing as she offered him a change of clothes. When he changed he came back to the wing that was empty, and only Daphne stood waiting for him. She pulled the covers back for him and allowed him to get in and get comfortable as she pulled up a chair next to the bed.

She took his hand softly and placed it on her cheek softly as she kissed his wrist sweetly, "I am glad to be here with you Harry regardless of what has happened tonight. Thank you for what you did. Your bravery was inspiring."

Harry smiled at the girl for the first time tonight, "You inspired me to do it. So thank you."

The girl brought him in for a hug, and didn't let go, "I love you Harry."

Harry embraced the girl tightly whispering back, "I love you Daphne."

They held each other for so long Harry let the first tears of the night slide down his face. It was a horrible night, but he had survived and he was a Triwizard Champion, and he had the girl he loved at his side. Nothing else could even be thought of or considered.

{A/N} Stay Tuned.

 **Update 04/22/2020. A big apology to anyone who read this during the first week of its launch. I only discovered today that i somehow caught off the last paragraph of the chapter. Update coming tonight or tomorrow. Cheers.**


	17. Two Hearts Two Champions

**Chapter 17**

"Breathe Love. You are one match away from making it to the World Championship. You have put the work in, and you have already beaten who was picked to win the tournament. Just keep your head up out there, and you will do fine." Harry said to his girlfriend patiently as she looked to be on the verge of a panic attack.

It had been a good season for Daphne Greengrass. She had attended the Ilvermorny Dueling Camps the first two weeks of her Summer with her boyfriend and his friends, and then as soon as she was dismissed she had begun living her dream and competing on the American Circuit. Dozens and dozens of duels later she had only lost two since she started and one was to Sierra, the American Champion, and the other was to a girl named Molly Bloom who was her next opponent in the National Championship.

With Harry's guidance she had truly been a force to be reckoned with, and all these former champions in her corner had given her an incredible amount of skill and when she returned to Britain in August for the National Qualifier she had decimated her competition.

Harry had been true to his word over the Summer. They had traveled basically the entire time, and hardly ever stayed in one place. They had competed on six continents, and never told people where they were going next in order to avoid Voldemort who had yet to make a move since his resurrection. This had made Harry very nervous, and he stuck to Daphne's side like glue, but he wasn't the only one. Michael, Lyoto, Neville, or Sierra always accompanied the duo at some point or another, and Sirius had done the majority of their traveling with them, and when he wasn't there Kendra Greengrass or one of his parents would be there to spectate. Mostly to ensure that Harry and Daphne behaved themselves, but of course that was of no consequence to the young couple who were getting to travel together.

Daphne was looking confidently across at her opponent who was bouncing around on her toes like a fighter while her coach gave her instruction. She spoke calmly, "This is for my shot at going to the world championship, and winning my first National Title. It's never been done by a rookie before."

"Until today." Harry said with a smile.

The girl gave him a heart warming smile, and asked, "Any last advice?"

Harry thought for a moment then shrugged his shoulders, "The girl beat you last time because you were nervous, exhausted, and inexperienced. She also had a first round bye in the last bracket you faced each other in. Today you have dueled the same number of times, and arguably she has had to duel longer fights to get here than you have. She is fast and crafty, so remember if you don't recognize it just dodge it. Remember your timing drills, and be prepared to strike hard, strike fast, and strike first."

"Duelist to the stage." The announcer called out.

Harry offered his fist to her, "Go get you that Gold Medal. I believe in you, and the others believe in you. You have out worked all of these girls this summer, and you have earned your spot at the World Championships. It's yours for the taking. Go get it."

The girl quickly hit his knuckles with her boyfriend/coach and walked to the stage while Harry walked down the platform and shook hands with Molly Bloom's coach who Harry believed was her father. At that point he took a chair on Daphne's side of the platform and gave her a nod as she began walking towards the center.

The announcer spoke exuberantly, "Ladies and Gentleman in today's final gold medal match for the 1995 British National Championship we have quite the surprise ahead of us. Wearing the Light Blue dueling robes is last year's National Champion from the South side of Manchester Alley representing the IDA, Molly Bloom!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, and the chant of IDA had started. Harry rolled his eyes at this, but kept a calm head. The International Dueling Association was the British version of what Ilvermony did, however the IDA charged thousands of Galleons and was pretty much a Pureblood exclusive camp for dueling, while the Ilvermorny Camp was inexpensive and welcomed all magic users who could afford the lower price. IDA had bread dozens of great champions, but Harry had a history of upsetting them, and he hoped that Daphne would be able to do the same, and maintain his reputation.

As the crowd died down the announcer continued, "Wearing the black and red dueling robes is a duelist who has quickly made a name for herself. She is coached by James Flamel the World Champion U17 duelist, and she won rookie of the year just last week. This is a duelist who is coming from Slytherin House at Hogwarts, representing House Potter and Flamel, Daphne Greengrass!"

Daphne raised her fist in the air which had become her go to when people cheered for her, and Harry clapped softly and even whistled at her while the crowd had once again resumed cheering. Daphne had gathered quite a fan section. Many people were considering her a Cinderella story since she was a rookie, and basically had no experience entering the league this year, but she also had her whole family, and many of her friends from school along with Harry's here to support her.

A tall referee with a long brown beard apparated into the middle of the platform motioned for the two witches to come to the middle, and the ref quickly went over the rules. At the end the two were asked to bow to each other which they did, and even shook hands before walking back to their side of the ring where Harry saw Daphne close her eyes. This was something he taught her. Occulmency at full blast during the big championship matches. Nothing else matters except the duelist in front of you no matter what the consequences of winning or losing are. You beat who is in front you, and the rest will take care of itself.

The count began, and Daphne still had her eyes closed. The other coach was shouting advice at his duelist, but Harry just watched patiently. As soon as one was said Daphne's eyes shot open and her wand was a flurry of movement as she dodged the first spell that zoomed towards her head. She almost had the timing wrong and took a blasting spell to the face, but instead it was perfect and she immediately put Molly on her back foot.

Harry had trained the girl in the timing drill all summer, and she was the Queen at it. Her speed matched many of the champions that they had trained with over the summer, and she had quickly made a name for herself on the American Circuit, and at the camps of Ilvermorny. Her offense was also very fluid, and her defense was mostly dodging thanks to Harry's tactics. They had come a long way in just two short months.

From the start the young dueling champion had to hand it to Molly Bloom; she was doing a spectacular job of reading Daphne's spell variety which was usually her best trait in a match. Molly was choosing the perfect shield every spell, and she was slipping spells into Daphne's defense with amazing precision. If she slips a stunning spell into it the duel would be over.

Harry calculated for a moment before shouting at Daphne, "She is timing your shields as soon as you drop them. Create a distraction and then blast through it."

Daphne gave the slightest nod of her head to indicate she understood, and spun around a blasting curse that she didn't recognize and flicked her wand out, "Serpentsoria!"

A long black snake appeared on the dueling platform, while at the same time she shouted, "Avis!"

Little birds were then conjured, and she directed them to attack Molly as she attempted to take care of the snake. While this was happening Daphne also began to cast a smokescreen charm that blocked her from the direct line of sight within moments. Harry smirked thinking it was only a matter of moments before Daphne became a champion, but then Molly had taken care of her conjurations, and began immediately blasting wide range stunners and blasting curses, and Harry screamed out, "SHIELD!"

Harry knew Daphne wouldn't be able to see them coming, and could only hope she heard him in time, but even he could see nothing of where Daphne was. After a moment and two dozens spells later Molly was huffing for breath and stopped, to just stare at the smokescreen. Harry stared at the smoke intently wondering if his girlfriend was lying in a heap on the stage unconscious. He desperately wanted to jump up there and see if she was okay, but instead he patiently waited and watched.

Molly intricately began waving her wand around clearly attempting to dispel the smokescreen, but before she could curses began streaming out of the smoke. The girl was on the defense in seconds, but was exhausted from the spells. The smoke was fading out now, and Daphne was slashing her wand around throwing chain spell after chain spell clearly going for an all or nothing victory at this point. Both girls were clearly tired, and couldn't fight for much longer. The opposite coach was screaming at his duelist to fight back, and as soon as she tried to return a counter curse she took a stunner, a rope, and a disarming charm all at once putting her on the floor, unconscious, and wandless. Immediately the ref called the match and waved his black flag towards Daphne, "Winner Daphne Greengrass!"

The girl merely fell to the floor, but Harry jumped onto the platform pulling her into his arms tightly while she screamed her excited exhaustion into his shoulder. The announcer and the crowd was going crazy, "What a year! What an upset! England has chosen its 14-15 Female World Champion Representative. Daphne Greengrass, a mere rookie this year has carved a path no male or female has ever done. She will be traveling with her coach and boyfriend to Japan to duel at the World Championships. I can't imagine many people had seen this coming, but it has happened. The birth of a new star here in Britain. Let's give it up for Daphne Greengrass."

Harry quickly separated from the girl as she wiped at her eyes smiling like a maniac, and Harry held her hand in the air so she could relish in her victory. The crowd applauded and cheered, and Daphne even waved to people she knew and roses were thrown on the floor.

The biggest smile he had ever seen on his girlfriends face was currently present, and he couldn't have been more proud of her. She had trained so hard, and took every bit of advice he and his friends could give her. None of them even expected she could win the National Championship her first year. They all expected her to make it, but to win it? The girl was an amazing hard worker, and Harry couldn't have been more attracted to her than he was in that moment, or so he thought.

Not long after the duel had finished Daphne had made it to the medal podium, and had shaken hands with her competitors, and even hugged Molly Bloom who would still get to go to the European Championship for getting second. After Daphne had received her medal many of the other girls from other divisions came and congratulated her, and the boys champions did as well. One even tried to flirt with her much to Harry's annoyance, but Daphne just kept Harry close, and took all compliments in stride.

When the duo had made it to their friends and family it was a happy moment of congratulations, and looks of pride coming to her parents faces. This was the first time her father had gotten a chance to see her in action and he spoke to Harry on the side while she talked with her mom and friends, "I have to say Lord Potter my family once again owes you a great debt. I don't think we would have ever realized Daphne's talent or potential in the sport had you not come along and given her such great opportunities. Thank you."

Harry shook hands with the man, and had been unable to convince him not to address him as Lord Potter while they were out in public, "You know I love your daughter Lord Greengrass, and I have been glad we have gotten to experience all these things together. Besides with her resume now I can probably recruit any duelist to a potential team when I get out of school. Maybe I could be a dueling instructor. I think that would be fun, and would have lots of potential when we are done competing. She will be in Neville's hands at the World Championship, and I trust he will help guide her to greatness."

The two men shared a smile at this, but then Cyrus took a more serious look, "Have you given serious consideration to the paperwork I left with you last time we spoke?"

Harry took on a much more guarded expression at this, and looked to his girlfriend who seemed so happy in this moment not catching the byplay between her father and boyfriend, "I have looked it over."

"Your thoughts?" The man asked impatiently.

"That I wish you wouldn't do this to your daughter. I know why you are doing it, and I can even sympathize with your situation, but I wish you would just trust her feelings, and trust mine as well. In Voldemort's eyes her being my girlfriend and her being my betrothed are completely different. She is a target as is, but with me being his enemy #1, her being betrothed to me makes her enemy #2. I want to keep that target on her back as small as possible." Harry explained frustrated by the whole matter.

Cyrus shook his head, "I don't care about the size of the target, but the amount of protection that can be given to her as the future Lady Potter."

"If I thought they outweighed each other I would sign the papers in a heartbeat. Completely ignoring the fact that we are young and have been together for less than a year if I thought it would keep her safe I would sign the papers." Harry said honestly.

Both men said nothing for a few minutes, and merely watched as Daphne associated with other people who had come and congratulated her, but Harry finally sighed putting his eyes back on the man, "I will talk to Daphne tonight. I have kept her out of it for so long she doesn't even know you have proposed a contract, but she knows I have been keeping something from her. I wanted her to keep her mind on the prize, and it paid off today. Now it is time to return to reality though. School starts back in 4 weeks. The World Championship is in 2 weeks, and I will have an answer for you before we leave for Japan."

The man nodded and shook hands with Harry, "You are a good man Lord Potter, and I do appreciate what you have done for my family. I can only hope our families will be bound for many years to come."

Smiling at the man and his kind words they rejoined the group.

That evening Harry and Daphne sat alone in the living room at the Flamel's Summer Home, and Daphne was still walking on cloud 9. They had just finished family celebrations, and Daphne had returned home with Harry to resume training tomorrow, and to speak about things that could profoundly affect their lives.

The two sat on the couch with a bottle of wine for celebration purposes, and Harry spoke softly, "Your dad drew this up a few weeks ago. I wanted to talk to you about it, but I didn't want you to be distracted in training for the big tournament, but I can't keep this from you any longer. I told your dad we would give him an answer by the time we leave for Japan."

Daphne quickly took the packet while Harry continued to speak, "It's pretty tame don't worry. It's a one hundred thousand galleon bride price, and a one million galleon buy out if we ever decide that we don't want to spend the rest of our lives together."

Flipping through it page after page Daphne scanned through it intensely, "I understand why you kept it from me, but I wish you hadn't."

"If it makes you feel any better, so do I. I haven't liked keeping this from you, but I talked with my family and they support whatever we decide. I have done the pros and cons in my head for weeks, but at the end of the day it's really going to come down to how we feel about each other." Harry said honestly.

Daphne looked at him sharply, "You doubt your feelings for me?"

Harry quickly wrapped an arm around the girl bringing him closely talking quietly into her ear, "No. I love you, and nothing I see right now can change that. We have fought together all over the world, at tournaments, on battlefields. We have lived through great triumphant moments, and seen things that some couples of fifty years wouldn't see together. We are also so compatible it scares me sometimes, but we have only been together for 8 months, but given the situations that we are facing it's a reasonable thing to do. It's sad that we live in a time where two 15 year olds would consider it normal to get married because of political pressures and the dangers of war, but that is the time we live in. I will fight for you till my last breath, and if this is what will make you safer, or at least make your family think you are safer then so be it. Your dad is right. I think us being married only makes you touchable by one person, and it would have to be over my dead body."

Daphne shivered at the thought and his words, but spoke softly back to him, "We are so young."

"I know Daph. If there were no threats I would wait, and do it when we graduated, but there is a threat out there, and I have to protect you." Harry said calmly and finally in an accepting tone.

"We will leave it out of the contract, but I swear to you if we decide to one day go our separate ways I will help buy us out of the contract. I think it is an unfair price that my father has demanded of you for a buyout, but I also understand his reasons why. You and I aren't idiots, and we understand the political machinations of this country, but I also love you, and as my first love, and the one who has done nothing but right by me in my time, I won't let my family hold such a huge debt over you. If you accept this, then I accept the terms of the contract, and sometime next year we can be married. I will be 16 and you will be 15, maybe 16 depending on when the wedding is."

Harry nodded and sealed the agreement with a kiss. There in that living room the two young teenagers were forced into a very adult decision, and others across the Isles would soon be facing similar situations, but not all will make the correct choice.

 **{Stay Tuned}**


	18. A Political Block

**Chapter 18**

The rest of the Summer blew by in a hurry. The Dueling World Championship had ended rather spectacularly. Harry had won his second Grand Champion title as a U17 duelist, and it had not been as hard a trek as it had been the previous year. With Michael Cotton having gone pro it left Harry and Lyoto as the #1 and #2 seed in the world allowing them to face each other in finals where the green eyed champion demolished the Italian boy with devastating effect. It was this that led Harry to that decision that next Summer when he turned 16 he would attempt to go pro, and find a team to take him in or, go out on his own in the individual leagues.

Daphne had done well for herself. She had gotten a bronze medal in the 14-15 girls division, and had lost to the gold medalist who just had a little too much power to throw around for Daphne to handle. Harry had quietly told the girl after that the Japanese girl had won her division every year, and that Daphne would have to either grow exponentially in skill, or just grow to be a little more powerful to take down the Champ. Regardless though Harry was extremely proud of her, and she fought well and became an international medalist which was a HUGE accomplishment. Also it made Daphne feel better than next year she would be 16, and the other girl had only turned 15 the week of the championship, between that and Fleur turning 18 next month the 16-17 division could be hers for the taking next year if she worked hard.

In news outside of the dueling world Harry and Daphne had officially become betrothed. It was an announcement that made the front page of the prophet, and Harry had made a big show of asking her to marry him, and presented her with a muggle diamond ring to honor his mother. It was a very heartwarming offer to Daphne, and she accepted right away and would deny that any tears fell down her face that day.

The Summer of great memories however was over, and Harry had been forced to say goodbye to his foreign friends and family, and return to Kings Cross Station for another year. Thankfully while he was at home during the Summer his parents had caught him up on his lesson plans, and wrote out some for him to workout this year. Nicholas had even begun instructing him in the basics of alchemy and war mage magic, while his mother was pushing him to learn more about ancient runes, wards, and spell casting for combat. It was clear his family wanted him to be as prepared as possible for the upcoming conflicts, and if that meant teaching him old magic to keep him alive then that was definitely something they were willing to do.

A big part of Harry's training regime over the Summer had been with Sirius instructing him in the ways of the Black Family magic, and it was almost all lethal. Sirius made him swear an oath of silence on most of the spells, and he honored it for everyone except Daphne, which he told Sirius he refused to keep secrets from her, and even insisted on being able to teach her some of the milder ones in case she had to protect herself. She was after all a most proficient spell caster now that she had been training so hard.

The only other notable part of the oncoming war was that Dumbledore had officially re-established the Order of the Phoenix, and they were working on recruiting as fast as possible. It was clear to Harry that Voldemort was trying to spread disbelief of his word that he had returned, but no major news outlet had spoken against him yet, though they all cast doubt over what he said. Harry was just glad they had not turned on him, and went for a slander campaign, because that could have been really ugly. The Ministry has merely taken the stance that it was investigating every possible scenario, and honestly Harry couldn't fault Fudge for that. He had after all come back no proof that could be shown to the masses, and if it wasn't for his popularity as a Dueling Champion Harry thought this whole thing would have gotten ugly.

Harry shook his thoughts away as he put an arm around Daphne and snapped his fingers causing their trunks to float behind them as they boarded the train. Lots of reporters were there taking pictures of the duo, as they were now a serious power couple in the country considering their dueling reputations alone, and not taking into account that Harry was now a Lord of the Wizengamot, and a Triwizard Champion.

Many were trying to get close enough to get questions, but Harry was ignoring them all. He was wearing his muggle jeans, and a collar shirt with sunglasses on. To most people this would be a disguise, but it wasn't quite enough considering just who Harry was. Daphne was wearing something similar, and her jeans were tight in all the right places while also wearing a long tank top that showed she was incredible shape for her age, and was enjoying a bit of muggle fashion, which was a far cry from the normal Pureblood Heiress she represented in school. She had to admit however after shopping with Harry in New York that she had come to appreciate muggle apparel. Besides, the day was one of the hottest on record for September, and they planned to stay as cool as possible.

A few of the more daring reporters got in front of Daphne and Harry, but Harry merely waved his hand aggressively and a solid force pushed these people aside while they made their way to the train. This allowed them a more straight shot to Neville who was waiting on them with a grin his own arm around Susan Bones whom they had spent a great deal of time with over the Summer. Harry's family did after all have a place really close to MACUSA in New York, and Susan along with Neville had spent lots of time with them there.

As they approached the other couple Susan chimed, "Can't seem to catch a break can you Daphne? You are just dragging around a giant beacon with you."

Harry snidely replied, "Hey they could be following her around too! She is after all an international world medalist, and the Heir to a very prominent family here in Britain."

Neville laughed at his put out friend, "I am not even going to grace that with a response. Come on let's get on the train. We have our meeting with Draco as soon as the train departs."

Harry nodded groaning a bit internally. Draco had left the country for the entire Summer and did not tell anyone where he went. About two weeks ago Harry had received a letter though that he wanted to speak with Neville and himself about something urgent, so the boys were slightly anxious to meet with him, but also annoyed that he ran with his tail tucked between his legs without telling anyone anything after his father was killed.

As they boarded the train they snagged a compartment and Harry began soundproofing the room, and even casting silencing along with every privacy ward he could think of as they all got comfortable. It wasn't long before the proximity ward picked up on Draco, and allowed him into the compartment, "Lord Potter, Longbottom, Greengrass, Bones."

Draco looked like hell. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was longer than it usually was, and the girls were surprised to see the usually very composed Pureblood Prince look this way. Neville even whistled, "Damn Malfoy you look like hell."

Before the boy could retort Harry jumped in, "Let's all be civil through this meeting and see where everyone stands before we start attacking each other with words or otherwise. Draco I hope you don't mind that I let my betrothed in on this meeting, and Ms. Bones is of course in a long standing alliance with Longbottom and Potter so we thought it wouldn't be too bad to have her in this meeting."

Draco looked at Susan for several moments before nodding, "I ask that none of our conversation gets back to your Aunt Bones."

"As long as the information doesn't directly affect the safety of my house then I see no reason to share secrets. After all I am the Heir Apparent, and can handle most of the sensitive information as I see fit." Susan said frostily.

Draco didn't say anything to this or respond to her tone, but as he sat down he took several deep breaths, "Potter I have had a hell of a Summer."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Harry asked cautiously.

"How does it look?" Draco asked tiredly with no real bite to his retort.

Harry winced a bit, "Why don't we start from the beginning right from the moment you got off the Hogwarts Express in June?"

Draco nodded, "Okay...Basically it was like this. I get off the train, and my mother is there she is obviously very upset, but more so she is afraid, and I don't quite understand what is going on, but she comes over to me, and apparates me to Spinner's End, which if you don't know if where Professor Snape lives. We had a brief conversation where it had to be decided if we were going to stand with the Dark Lord, because he was at Malfoy Manor awaiting my return home."

The girls all gasped at this while Harry locked his jaw and Neville shook his head sadly. Harry was about to speak, but Draco cut him off, "I don't want your pity Potter. Actually I want to thank you. Had you not come and shown me the memory of the Graveyard I probably would have believed the pile of shit that he shoveled. He told my mom that you killed my father with a wide spread blasting curse, and she believed it. I swore to her however that you had shown me exactly what happened, and that there was no way I was going to kneel to the monster that killed my father."

Susan grumbled, "So that's how Malfoy Manor got burnt to the ground?"

Draco nodded, and for the first time the boy looked saddened even more so than at the loss of his father in Harry's opinion, but said nothing as the boy composed himself, "Yes...But that's not important not in the grand scheme of things. Anyways regardless my mother and I discussed our options, and honestly there weren't many. We went abroad to France, which by the way is where most of the Malfoy money was and basically locked down the accounts. I claimed my Lordship from there which was extremely difficult, and became Lord Malfoy. It will be official if I survive the Winter Solstice Wizengamot meeting the same as you."

Harry shuffled at this, and noticed the boy was wearing the Lord ring, and to him that was enough to validate what he was saying. The boy continued, "My mother is basically on the run staying with Black's and Malfoys around the world trying to avoid the wrath of the Dark Lord, but I for one cannot let him get away with murdering my father in Cold Blood for something he wasn't even responsibly for."

The boy said the last part bitterly, and Harry wanted to apologize, but knew it wouldn't help. Neville however spoke next, "I don't understand though. I am sure Harry appreciates the information as much as I do, but why was it urgent to meet with us?"

"I want to bargain for my life Longbottom. I want to live through this war, and I want to avenge my father, and the only way I am going to do any of those things is if I ally with Potter here. This is what I propose. Potter I need you to protect me, because honestly I am a walking target in Slytherin right now, and possibly even more so than Greengrass. Slytherin's respect alliances, what they don't respect are traitors which is exactly what most of them are going to view me as. I won't even dismiss the fact that I could be dead by the end of the week." He said which brought gaping looks from all four faces.

Harry shook his head, "What is it you think I can do for you Malfoy? I don't go in Slytherin's common room, and if that is where your danger is I don't really know if I can help you."

Draco argued quickly, "Wait just let me finish. This protection that I need in return I will ally myself with your house, and we are sworn into the Wizengamot together we can immediately start making moves, and if we can get Dame Longbottom or even Heir Longbottom sworn in with us to start working with us along with even the Greengrass and Bones votes we can start working against Death Eaters who are implanted in the Ministry, because believe me Potter we have a year before the Ministry goes down, and honestly we will be lucky if we have that."

Daphne's eyes widened at Draco's assessment and idea, "The Bones, Malfoys, Longbottoms, Potter, Black's, and Greengrass family in one political alliance would be an unprecedented political blockade. What would we even do with that kind of power?"

Draco smirked, "Bar people with Dark Marks from the Ministry."

Susan gasped, "There is no way we could get that passed in the Wizengamot that would be political suicide for whoever proposed the bill as well."

"Which is why I will do it. The Malfoy family still has lots of support, and while this will effectively end most of my families alliances that have stood for centuries if it works then the Ministry might remain standing until Voldemort storms the fortress at which point Dumbledore, and Potter here could attempt to stop him in a final confrontation. Harry would hopefully be 16, and only a year from his magical majority. We can't fight this war defensively or we will all be dead within a year. Once Voldemort makes his first attack everything that follows will simply be devastation far beyond what our families witnessed in the first war. I have heard rumors and stories from my allies on the Continent and here in the country that he seems even more powerful than before, and if possible even more mentally unstable."

Harry looked sadly at this, "I was warned that something like that might happen if he were to return, and he has already recruited all of the Vampire clans, and most of the Werewolf clans thankfully without Greyback they aren't what they were or what they could've been, but it's still a considerable number, and if we push this bill through then it is highly probably that many could flock to his side in fear or retaliation."

Draco nodded in acceptance, while Neville said, "So we have to act fast, but what do we do?"

Draco looked Harry dead in the eyes when he spoke next, "You train us Potter. Anyone who is willing to stand up and fight. You start a club here at Hogwarts for dueling, and combat training. You go after the feast with me to Dumbledore's office and you demand the Lord's Quarters, and that will protect me from Slytherin House, while we start making preparations to pass this bill. We gather every ally of every political faction of the Wizengamot and we make multiple strikes at once, and try to cripple the Dark Lord, because if we don't there won't be a government to defend us."

Susan, Neville, and Daphne just gaped at Draco. They had all known him for years, and they had never seen the boy beg, but clearly here it was. Desperation. Draco and Harry both knew though that running wasn't an option especially not for him. With the amount of money the Malfoy's have the Dark Lord would make it one of his top priorities to somehow get his hands on that money, and if that meant killing off Draco and a bunch of people to make the line of succession to fall to one of his followers then he would do it in a heartbeat, with the flick of his wand.

Harry shook his head briefly, "I can help you with this political blockade Malfoy because it's a good idea. I can go with you to Dumbledore to get you into the Lords Quarters for your own protection, but I don't know if I can train a bunch of children to fight a war."

Draco quickly accused, "You taught Daphne! Within a year you made her a national champion."

Neville jumped in before either Harry or Daphne could say anything, "Daphne had A LOT of raw talent, and not to mention a crazy drive to work and improve herself. We also had Michael, Sierra, and Lyoto helping train her. This would just be Harry basically."

Draco countered, "Then why not just teach them all how to defend themselves. Forget the fighting, but a lot of these people can't even produce a proper shield that can survive the initial few blasting spells. I am a competent duelist, but when I watched you duel that American kid last year, and saw the magic you performed in the tournament I knew I was hilariously out classed. Even the basics could make the difference between life and death Potter."

Susan spoke calmly, "He is right Harry. I think most of the Hufflepuff house barely know which end of their wands to use, and wouldn't survive the first ten seconds of a fight. Had you not been in Hogsmeade back on Valentine's Day it would have been a blood bath."

Daphne looked at her betrothed who was looking at Draco intently, "I don't think it could hurt. Two or three nights a week. Maybe even less just depending on the interest. You could save a lot of lives doing this Harry. Just the basics. Dodging, shielding, return fire spells, fighting safety in numbers. Lots of common sense that these people just have no idea about because they never had a competent teacher or had the thought to read a book on dueling in their lives. If something this simple can help that much I say we do it."

"We?" Harry asked patiently, interested in his girlfriends thoughts.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Of course WE. Me as your protege and Neville as your coach. I think we can command a lot of respect, and do a lot of good. I wouldn't dream of having you do this alone. We could even reach out to people like Granger who could dig up every spell for OWL and NEWT exams to give us a good curriculum to follow."

Harry looked back and forth from the people in the carriage, and nodded his head, "Very well. We will put a feel out to all the houses, but we will first just see what the interest is. I personally think we are better off recruiting people, and starting a private resistance instead of just opening it up to anyone."

Neville shrugged, "You can use this group to pick out some of the better ones and do just that. Focus on basic self defense in the big class, and start a smaller group from that to really take the fight to Voldemort, or at the very least we have the start of some front line defenders here at Hogwarts. People we can trust."

The group of five sat silently contemplating the reaching effects of just what they had planned here, and for the next several hours to Hogwarts they traded further ideas, and implications of just what this would mean, and how they would accomplish it. By the time they got off the Hogwarts Express Harry felt that this whole thing could inspire hope to the students of Hogwarts.

 **{A/N} Well I'll be honest. I have been sitting on this chapter for a while, and I honestly have lost the flow of this story. I am going to be doing my best to finish up A Badgers Champion, and then move on to finishing this story. Put this in your follows, and I promise to come back to it again one day. Thank you for all those who have stuck by this story, and your support of it! Cheers, and we will all see each other again one day :)!**


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